


the rose and the spike

by Miciia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brogane, M/M, Slow Burn, Unfinished, ennemies to lover, tattoued!keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 07:04:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12812238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miciia/pseuds/Miciia
Summary: lance hated keith. keith had 99 problemes and lance was most of them. but one day, their teacher Coran forced them to do a group project together. pidge and hunk are desperate to make them get along and see this group project as an opportunity to make them finally be friends.





	the rose and the spike

**Author's Note:**

> I'm probably never going to update this fic so here you go, i didn't even beta read it so i'm sorry if there's mistakes and stuff. i hope you enjoy this fic anyway

Lance was staring at a bright purple flower for the past 15 minutes. He was touching the pink petals hanging over the purple button with his fingertips, his bottom lip pursed upwards into a pout. He wasn’t saying anything, listening to Pidge’s angry typing in the background. Lance sighed for the thousand’s time, Pidge’s eyebrows twitched. They stood up, creeped up on Lance.

“if you’re going to sulk, DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE !” they shouted in his ear and he jumped with a squeal, bumping the shelves.

Pidge slapped their face with their hand.

“what happened ?” they sighed.

“nothing” Lance mumbled.

Pidge hit him on the shoulder.

“don’t give me that shit Lance, a fuchsia can’t be that interesting, especially to you. What happened ?”

Lance fidgeted. He looked around the small flower shop.

“i like… what did you call that plant again ?” he scratched his neck with his left hand.

“fuchsia”

“yeah that, I like it. Can I buy one ?”

“no.”

“why ?!” Lance squealed, his eyes shot open and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“because you can’t take care of a plant, if I give you one you’ll just come back in two weeks with a dead bush. I’m not letting you buy plants anymore.”

Pidge went back to their desk and typing on the computer. Lance sat beside them on a chair. Afternoons were always quiet in the flower shop where Pidge was working part time. Lance liked spending time there, the bright lighting wasn’t that big of a problem for him and he liked taking care of the plants when they let him water them. He loved plants but he couldn’t keep one at all, he had tried several times and even with Pidge’s help they always ended up dying for some mysterious reasons. Lance looked at the lines of code language on their computer that they were copying from a notebook and his head spinned at the sight. He couldn’t understand why Pidge liked tech to the point of creating robots : they were currently working on a small drone with Hunk, The Rover Project. The idea was to get Rover to follow Pidge everywhere on its own, and it was almost done. A customer entered the shop and Pidge reluctantly left their computer to take care of them. Lance rested his head on the table, sighing obnoxiously. He couldn’t see the customer behind the shelves but he was sure it was an old lady with a dog, because no one else wanted to buy plants nowadays. His attention perked up at Pidge’s happy greeting. Lance stood up, maybe Hunk was here to deliver Rover prototype or even better : with cookies. But his smile faded instantly when he recognized the black mullet talking with his small friend. He grunted and went back to resting his head on the desk, facing the opposite direction.

He hated Keith. They were in the same major in university, and he was the only one better than him in every subject. They became rivals, well at least, he became Lance’s rival. And he was Pidge’s childhood best friend. He tried to get along with him at first, if only for his friend’s sake but Keith was not cooperating. First, he didn’t remember Lance when they had most of their classes together. Second, he started whatever war they had going on. Third, being a condescending prick wasn’t helping Lance to get along with him. Lance would like to learn about Keith, to be able to watch his tattoos just like Pidge and Hunk were allowed to but the moment they try to talk together, Keith looks at him with a deep frown and a don’t fuck with me kind of face which irritates Lance to an extent he didn’t know could be that deep. Lance glanced at them: Pidge was staring at Keith’s left wrist with a smile, their fingertips brushing against his skin. He must had a new tattoo, again. Lance grunted again, he loved tattoos. He didn’t know anyone except Keith who had tattoos. And Keith had a lot of them, both of his arms were almost covered Pidge said once. So of course, Lance wanted to get a look and see if he could feel the ink with his fingertips. But Keith would never agree to letting him touch his arms if he asked and Lance would never ask because he didn’t like Keith and he had no intention of touching him ever because he hated Keith.

Pidge and Keith were coming up to the desk where Lance was trying to act as if he was asleep. He didn’t want to greet someone who hated him. But of course, Pidge would never leave him alone, especially when they can get the chance to rile Lance up. Actually, Pidge wasn’t innocent to their bad relationship, they were having fun seeing them bickering over some random thing.

“Laaance, I know you’re up come on, say hello” Pidge said, shoving a finger in his ribs.

“yeah, hello” Lance said in a monotonous tone with a wave of his hand.

“don’t mind him, he’s been sulking for a while.” Pidge said, their smirk visible in their voice.

“I rarely see him do anything else.” Keith said then, the sound of his voice was enough to make Lance growl.

“i would prefer him sulking all the time than rambling all day long.”

Lance’s fist tightened. He didn’t like where this was going.

“he can talk ?”

“yeah, and sometimes it’s interesting !” Pidge snickered.

Lance couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up, picked up his bag, sent his meanest glare at Keith before walking out of the shop. He regretted his choice right after stepping outside, Pidge would say he was only being childish and maybe he was. It was nothing new, Pidge was always making fun of him and he didn’t mind, it was their own way of showing their love and he knew they didn’t mean it but with Keith it was different. Keith meant it. Keith meant everything he said. And even if he didn’t say anything mean, his tone was so different whenever he talked about Lance, so much harsher and filled with anger, Lance couldn’t take it. He hated that tone. So he mirrored it everytime he needed to talk to him. He got a text from Pidge.

angry munchkin  
you’re still coming tonight ?

Lance couldn’t say no, the third season of their favorite series was starting that night and they had been planning this for weeks with Pidge and Hunk, of course he was coming !

Lance was super excited when he rang at Pidge’s door. He was smiling from ear to ear and skipped into the apartment when Hunk opened the door. He headed straight to the kitchen, followed by Hunk.

“i’ve got all the pop corn we will need tonight, i’ve got 5 packs ! I’m so excited Hunk !”

“yeah dude, me too ! This is gonna be so awesome”

“where’s Pidge ? They still live here right ?”

“they’re in the living room with Keith, they’re trying to explain the first 2 seasons to him.” he said, putting a thumb towards the living room.

Lance’s mouth dropped open, his face pale as a sheet even with his dark complexion. “he’s here ?” he asked, his voice sounded strangled. He wasn’t as excited anymore.

“yeah, Pidge asked him if he wanted to come watch it with us”

“but, he knows nothing about Voltron !” Lance whined. He crossed his arms across his chest.

“maybe, but he accepted to come. You can just ignore him and everything will be okay” Hunk said with a soft voice, an apologetic glimpse present in his eyes. He knew how much Lance hated Keith and that it was a bad idea but Pidge didn’t exactly leave him any choice, they barged in their shared apartment with Keith after their shift.

“but I can’t ignore him”

“why ? We can agree you both don’t talk to each other and everything will be fine”

Lance kneeled in front of Hunk, his face hidden behind his hands.

“why did Pidge bring him here, we hate each other ! They know it ! Why do they like to make me suffer so much ?”

Hunk patted his shoulder. “I know you don’t like it, but please can you put up with him a little bit ? For Pidge ?”

Lance glanced up at him, he was making that face with his watery eyes and pouting bottom lip, he couldn’t say no to that face. He sighed deeply before standing up. “I won’t let Keith ruin this night !”

“that’s my buddy !” Hunk hit him on the shoulder. “did you see his new tattoo ?”

Lance glared at him, his left eyebrow was raising slowly up on his forehead. Hunk held up his hands and apologized. They took the popcorn and entered the living room. Keith was the first one to notice them, his face closed up on any emotion he was showing with Pidge. They noticed the change and smiled at Lance over their shoulders.

“you’re finally here ! We were waiting for you, come on take a seat !”

Lance sat on the far edge, next to Hunk. He was happy his best friend was here, he was an important ally. They watched the episode in almost peaceful silence, hushing at Keith everytime he asked about one character or the other, holding their breath at the same time when danger was hovering over the main cast. By the end of the episode, Lance had completely forgotten about Keith and he was mimicking some of the scenes in front of his friends when they were talking about what they were expecting to see during the season. Keith was looking at them from the side, his face expressing nothing but boredom as he was eating popcorn. How did he save them from being eaten during the show was a mistery. Pidge turned to him.

“so did you like it ? Who was your favorite character ?” they asked with a wide grin.

Keith scratched his neck with his arm. “I guess it was cool, even if I didn’t understand everything.”

“do you want to watch the other seasons ?”

“I don’t know, maybe...”

“who was your favorite character ?”

“well the black paladin was really cool, always calm and focused even in the heat of the battle but the red paladin was good too”

Lance stopped his friendly fight with Hunk to snort at Keith.

“the red paladin is sooo over-rated, okay he acts all mysterious and he has that cool sword but he is just completely random ! He will always put himself in danger whenever he gets the chance !” lance stated, his hands on his hips and smirking.

“but at least he does something to get them out of a delicate situation ! who’s your favorite character anyway ?” Keith snarled with a glare.

Hunk and Pidge glanced at each other and sighed at the same time.

“me ? Tch isn’t it obvious ? Of course I prefer the blue paladin, he is so cool just like me” he said, cocking his hips to the side.

“he’s just scared of everything ! He didn’t get anything done in this episode !”

“do I need to remind you you only watched one episode ? There are two seasons where the blue paladin gets things done and saves everyone !” Lance had leaned towards Keith.

“but he was useless in this episode ! If it wasn’t for the green paladin, he wouldn’t even be alive !” Keith stood up and put his forehead against Lance’s.

“the red paladin was saved way more often than the blue paladin you know ?”

“how would I know, I didn’t even know this series before !” Keith shouted.

“why are here then ?” Lance shouted as well.

“because Pidge asked me to ! Why did you come anyway ?”

“did it never occur to you that we’ve been doing this since the series started ? It was fun until now but guess what ? It isn’t when you’re here !”

“calm down guys” Hunk asked, putting a head on their shoulders to push them apart gently. “each paladin is very important to the group, in their own way. Could you stop fighting now and go back to ignoring each other ?” he pleaded.

Lance and Keith crossed their arms over their chest, turning their to opposite directions. Pidge sighed deep and low.

“I’m sure you could get along if you made an effort.” Pidge said, a mix of pain and anger glimpsing in their eyes.

“i’ve already made enough efforts, I’m not doing anymore.” Lance stated, cocking his chin up.

“what ? You didn’t do anything at all !” Keith glared at him but Lance couldn’t see anything with his eyes closed.

“guys, quit it. We get it you can’t stand each other, we won’t put you together anymore.”

“yeah I hope so.” Lance said before falling onto the couch, next to Hunk.

If he had opened his eyes, maybe he would have caught a glimpse of Keith looking at Pidge who shrugged and then looked at the floor before flopping down on the couch as well, nibbling on his bottom lip.

~~

Keith had 99 problems, and a cute cuban boy was most of them. He had met him through his best friend Pidge and the first time they ever talked, Lance just snapped at him for no reason. Well, maybe forgetting one of his classmates wasn’t nice but for his defense he didn’t remember any of his classmates. He went to class, sat up in a front seat, listened to the lesson, left. That was it, he didn’t want to talk to anyone, Pidge called him a hopeless introvert but he didn’t mind having only Pidge, Shiro, Allura and Coran as friends. He didn’t need anything more than that. But when Pidge had introduced him to Hunk and Lance, he thought that maybe having more friends wasn’t so bad after all. At least concerning the soft chubby Hunk. Lance was a whole other level. The first Lance said when they met up was that they were rivals and he got mad when Keith had no idea what he was talking about. Even when he did compliment him for being the second best of their major he thought Keith was mocking him. The next day, he looked at his classmates for the first time and he saw Lance sitting there, who turned his head to side when their eyes met. Keith flinched, partly because he was mad at Lance for acting childish and also at himself for finding him cute. But he stopped finding him cute the moment Lance showed his true personality, full of himself and overconfident, flirting with anything that moved. Keith couldn’t stand people like him, so he took every occasion to make fun of him and rile him up. Because he didn’t like him one bit.   
But when Lance went from insulting him to ignoring him, Keith didn’t know what to do. He never thought that Lance would stop bickering with him over random matters when they saw each other in the flower shop or at the huge apartment. The first time Lance avoided his eyes, Keith could feel his heart sank into a large void. He had never wanted for Lance to hate him, he liked their little fights so he had assumed Lance liked them as well. After a week of being ignored, Keith was missing Lance. He was missing their old bickering and the way Lance’s brows furrowed when he got angry, the way he pursed his bottom lip when Hunk stopped their fights, the way he always stood straight on his long legs and his arms crossed over his chest. The way Lance blushed slightly when he was really mad about something. After a month of only watching Lance from a distance he wasn’t allowed to cross he started acting desperate. He would stop by the flower shop whenever Lance was there, just to watch him discuss with Pidge, looking at the expressions he could have. Keith learned to love all of them, even his shit eating grin and his smug smirk. There one face he didn’t like : the one Lance directed at him. His lips were pressed tightly into a thin line, his eyebrows furrowed and his blue eyes sparkling with a contained anger when their eyes met. Keith was jealous of Pidge and all the attention they received from Lance. Keith started getting jealous of the strangers Lance flirted with, of Hunk who could touch him whenever he wanted, of Pidge who could make fun of him without any repercussions. He wanted to attract Lance’s attention, when he got a new tattoo he waited for two weeks to show his brother’s work to Pidge in case Lance would come to them and ask him about the tattoo and finally talk again. But it didn’t work at all. That’s why he came to watch that series he had never heard before, just to see Lance a bit more, to talk to him about the show after the episode. Maybe they would even get to talk to each other without the other two.

He got all worked up for nothing. When Lance talked to him, his heart skipped a beat only to drop when he heard his mocking tone. Keith’s mood went sour, he still couldn’t stand Lance acting smug. The moment Keith had dropped down on the couch, he had wanted to leave. It was clear Lance wanted nothing to do with him. Lance hated him. His whole world shattered. This was the last time they would ever be in a room together. Lance hated him. He would never see him again. Keith didn’t want that. What would he do ? He needed to do something before… 

“I’m leaving” Lance said, standing up and walking to the door.

“bye ! Text me when you get home” Pidge said without moving from the couch.

Hunk went after him to see him off. Keith panicked, it was already too late. Lance was gone, he would never be friends with him. He hid his face behind his hands.

“are you okay ?” Pidge asked.

Keith nodded. He couldn’t believe it. It was the end, he would never see Lance again.

“I’m leaving” Keith said

He stood up and stormed out of the apartment, he walked past Lance and Hunk standing in the doorway. He didn’t know what to do. He headed towards his and Shiro’s apartment, above Shiro and Allura’s tattoo studio. He slammed the door of the apartment and earned weird looks from Shiro, Coran, Matt and Allura who were drinking in the living room. Keith walked with his head down towards them, falling on Allura’s lap. This way, he was next to Shiro and he could see Matt behind him, Coran was on the other side of Allura. She patted Keith’s jet black hair gently.

“what happened young man ?” Coran asked.

“I fucked up” Keith grumbled.

“what is it ? Maybe we can help ?” Allura said, her voice softer than he was used to.

“I don’t want to talk about it” Keith grumbled. He closed his eyes, trying to sleep. Yeah, this was a good plan, sleep until his problem disappeared.

“is it about Lance ?” Keith flinched at Matt’s words. “Pidge has been complaining about you two for a while now.”

“i know of a Lance in the same class as Keith, what a strange coincidence !” Coran smiled with his finger in the air.

“well, of course, your student Lance is the same as my Pidge’s Lance.” Matt said and Coran made an o shape with his mouth.

“this is good ! Keith you finally have a friend in your university !” Shiro patted his brother’s head.

“no it’s not ! He hates me” Keith grumbled. He curled up in Allura’s lap.

“what ? Psh, what are talking about young fellow ? How could Lance hate you ! Wait now that I think about it, he did have some mixed feelings towards you since the first day of school” Coran pointed out.

Keith lifted his head to glare at him. “thank you, I feel so much better already” he deadpanned.

“is it sarcasm that I sense around here ?”

“Coran, please” Allura snapped at him.

“are you sure he hates you ?” Shiro asked.

“yeah, he’s told Pidge a hundred times how much he doesn’t want anything to do with Keith.” Matt stated, earning a glare from Shiro. “what ?”

“can’t you be more tactful ?”

“sorry Shiro, but he needs to hear the truth, don’t give him hope when there is none.”

“what do you mean ?” Allura asked.

“Keith is in love with Lance” Matt stated.

“no I’m not !” Keith snapped.

“just a crush then ?”

“I don’t have a crush either ! he’s just a friend !”

“technically, Lance is not a friend either since he doesn’t like you” Coran earned a hit in the ribs from Allura.

“Pidge told me.”

“I swear to god I will end them !”

“you just sold yourself here, they didn’t tell me anything, just that the tension between you too was thick enough to but through and it wasn’t a good kind of tension.”

Keith grunted, he was defeated. He snuggled closer to Allura, as if he could somehow disappear in her.

“my little brother has a crush ? That’s cute”

“it would be cuter if Lance liked him back” they all turned to stare at Coran with an eyebrow raised. “it’s the truth, don’t look at me like that !”

“i just think he’s cute, it’s not a crush.” Keith admitted through gritted teeth.

“I know what you mean” everyone turned to look at Matt with wide eyes. “what ? Did you already forget I’m gay ?”

“no, it’s just that he’s not your type” Shiro explained

“yes ! You prefer thick and hairy guys and I’m pretty Lance is neither !” Coran added.

“that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize a cute guy when I see one. And his skin alone makes him a lot prettier than he should be.”

“do you have a crush on him as well ?” Coran asked.

“no, no, not at all, I just appreciate beauty when I see it. Even though, I wouldn’t be against it if he asked me out.”

Keith turned around in Allura’s lap, he was now facing Coran.

“ow, don’t sulk Keith, I won’t make a move on your crush” Matt snickered.

“you can do whatever you want with Lance, see if I care”

“Keith, don’t be mad ! You know Lance isn’t my type at all. You know my thoughts about Coran’s mustache.” Matt winks at Coran who blushes and sweep his mustache with his fingers.

“it is an everyday work to keep my stache in this vibrant color and form !” Coran was beaming. He was very proud of his mustache.

Keith turned his head, Coran was too embarrassing to watch. Matt was grinning at Shiro, running his fingers along his inner thigh. Keith groaned and looked up at Allura. Allura was a safe bet, she was beautiful, nice, and would never do anything embarrassing.

“did you finish crying baby ?”

Keith slid off of her and down on the floor. He heard wet sounds on his right. Coran put his hands on Keith’s eyes.

“how dare you do such a thing in front of the kid !” Coran squealed.

“I’m 19 already ! I’m not a baby anymore !” he pulled Coran’s hands away and glanced at his brother: Matt was half on top of him, kissing his neck and looking right at him. Matt winked. “okay I take it back, my eyes burn !”

Shiro pushed Matt to the side who whispered later with straight up bedroom eyes. Keith rolled his eyes, he couldn’t believe them.

“when I have a boyfriend, we will fuck right in front of you” Keith snarled.

Shiro nudged him in the side with his foot and Matt smirked.

“better be quick or one of us will before that happens” Matt snorted.

He high fived Shiro and Allura. Keith looked at her with his mouth hanging open and his eyes squinted.

“how could you do this to me ?” Keith asked her, dumbfounded.

“well, he’s not wrong you know” she shrugged “you have a crush on someone who hates you !”

“it’s not a crush !”

“okay, you have a soon-to-be crush on someone who hate you !”

“I’m not interested in him ! I just want him to consider me as a friend because if we can’t get along, it will be hard for Pidge and Hunk !”

“it’s already hard for both of them, they are already trying to see you separately as much as possible.” Matt stated.

“is this why I didn’t see Lance for the past two weeks ?”

Matt nodded. “Hunk was the one to suggest it, Pidge wanted to believe there might still be some hope of you getting along somehow.”

Keith remembered how defeated they sounded when they agreed to never put them together again. He remembered how pained they looked and his chest tightened.

“well, when Lance learned I was your brother, he got so angry against me, I thought I was going to end up killed on the sight” Shiro said in an amused voice.

Keith turned to look at him. “you know Lance ?”

“of course, I’ve known Lance and Hunk since they were in high school with Pidge since they still lived with Matt at the time.”

“when did he learn we are brothers ?”

“about two months ago ? They needed me to draw them some plans and Lance was talking about how he hated your mullet so I told him not to insult my precious little brother and I think his jaw just detached itself from his skull when I said that.”

“did he say something else ?”

“well, once he digested the fact, he asked me if I was the one who did your tattoos.”

“he wants to get one ?”

“he would like to but he doesn’t have the money for it, maybe later. he’s not even sure if I’ll be the one to tattoo him in the end. Or if he will ever get one. He doesn’t like pain.”

Keith nodded. “did he say anything about me ?”

“except for the fact that you’re a pain in the ass ? No, he did not. We had other topics to discuss.”

“like what ?”

“why are you so interested ? You should talk with him if you want to know more about him.”

Keith hugged his knees tightly against his chest.

“I know that already, but we can’t have a conversation at all ! I can only look at him from afar.” he closed his eyes, Matt’s laugh echoing through his head in the living room.

“oh my god, you’re fucked little bro !” Matt said through his uncontrollable laughter.

Shiro was sighing loudly. “what did I do to have such a useless brother ?”

“you sure aren’t pinning for him, Keith, I totally believe you now !” Allura was laughing as well.

“you didn’t take such strange measures with your ex boyfriend, well at least you could talk so I guess it helped with the relationship !”

“I didn’t mean it that way !”

“yeah, because why would you long for someone you don’t have a crush on ?” Allura asked.

“I’m not longing for him ! he’s an idiot !”

“you never talked with him, so you can’t know that” Shiro deadpanned.

“and if it wasn’t for you, he would be the best in all of his classes, so I am pretty sure he is not stupid.” Coran added.

Keith grunted. He couldn’t argue against them. He spread his legs and crossed his arms over his chest.

“ho, look here, the kid is sulking” Matt said, he started to pet his hair. “come on kitty cat, we’re going to give you food so you won’t be mad at us anymore.”

“no, I don’t want food, I want my room.”

“the little emo cat can’t sulk peacefully.” Matt joked, pinching his cheek.

“Maybe it is time for you to move out of this house then” Coran said.

Coran was right, Keith was living here only temporarily because he didn’t find an apartment cheap enough to rent. The three rooms were occupied by Matt and Shiro for the bigger, Allura and Coran had a separate room each. Keith had the sofa bed in the living room. He didn’t want to move out yet though, he liked living with them. He liked coming home and seeing that there was someone to greet him, that he wasn’t alone. At first, he wanted to move in with Pidge but they had already found an apartment with Hunk and Keith didn’t want to intrude on them so he just crashed at his brother’s house. But he knew he would need to move out someday, just not now.

“do you want to sleep in my room for now ? You can even spend the night there if you wish ! Young boys need their beauty sleep !” Coran proposed.

“you snore in your sleep, old man” Keith deadpanned.

“I’m not old ! I’ll have you know that I’m still living in the full force of my young years !”

“yeah, keep telling yourself that”

Coran turned red and crossed his arms over his chest, his body straighter than an arrow. “you’re going to regret that young man.”

“now now boys, we don’t want to fight now, Keith needs our help, not a cold shoulder.” Allura said softly.

“it is not my fault he is heartbroken.” Coran said, cocking his head to the side even more.

“I’m not heartbroken” Keith grunted, mirroring Coran’s position.

“but I will help him anyway.” Coran decided.

The three housemates leaned to look at Coran, their eyebrows furrowed in a concerned manner.

“this is gonna be a bad idea.” Lance whispered, he knew there was no way Coran would change his mind and the other knew it as well.

~~

“pay attention over here students !” Coran said, rolling the end of his red mustache between his thumb and pointer finger. “today before starting the lecture I will give you each an assignment, but the fun part is that you will have to do it pairs !” the students grunted, no one liked to work in pairs. “but keep listening ! Because the most important part is that I am the one who is picking the pairs !” he said with a bright smile.

Lance had a bad feeling about this. A really bad one. He was always the one to get stuck with someone who didn’t work at all and he would end up having a bad grade and losing to Keith was not an option. Coran started calling out names, giving the time for each pair to find each other and exchange their contacts before calling the next one. Lance was fidgeting, waiting to see who his partner would turn out to be, maybe they would be a pretty woman or a good looking man if he was lucky.

“Keith Kogane !” Coran called out.

Lance perked up at the name, he was mildly curious with who Keith would end up. He would love to see him screw up this assignment and take his place as best one in the class.

“you are paired with Lance McClain !”

Lance’s eyes shot open. “no we’re not !” he shouted. The other students turned to him, except for Keith. “I’m not working with Keith.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, young man. We will discuss this matter after the class.” Coran said, before going back to calling out pairs.

Keith didn’t look back even once during the class to face Lance. At the end they went straight to talk to Coran in a hushed voice. Coran ignored Keith completely and called out to him.

“Lance ! I am sure that you and Keith will make an excellent group, I hope you can get along well during the assignment !” Coran said cheerily, even his mustache was hoping up and down.

“well that’s kind of the problem, we don’t work well together as a group” Lance deadpanned. He did his best not to look at his side, where he knew Keith was watching him. He could feel his stare on his skin, and the hatred that came with it.

“well, you will have to work through this to get a good grade ! I suppose neither of you want to lose his place at the top of class.” Coran cocked an eyebrow.

“I don’t want to work with him. Can I do the assignment alone ?” Lance insisted.

“no, I won’t accept this. If any of you try to do the assignment alone, I will know it and there will be consequences young men ! So learn how to work together quickly if you want to get the assignment done on time, you only have a month !” Coran smiled brightly before gesturing them to leave the classroom. Neither said anything for a while until Lance sighed loudly and glanced at Keith.

“listen, I know you don’t want to do this and neither do I but I need a good grade, got it ?”

Keith frowned.

“I need a good grade too you know ?”

“good, that’s at least one thing we have in common.” Lance smirked.

“yeah, at least” Keith grumbled and looked away. “when are we starting to work ?”

“the sooner we start, the sooner we finish, when are you free ?”

“anytime, my shifts are pretty flexible”

“yeah, I forgot you work at Shiro’s studio. Let’s meet at Pidge’s flower shop tomorrow.”

“why the flower shop ? Why not your home...”

“you will never be allowed in my apartment got it ? So don’t ever mention it again.” Lance snapped before leaving.

Keith blinked at his back a few times. When he made sure Lance was far enough, he knocked on the door where Coran was still in. The professor opened the door with a childish smile on his lips.

“so ? How did it go ?”

Keith fought the urge to hit in the face because he was afraid Shiro would hit back and he did not want that.

“how do you think it went ? Bad of course ! Was that a revenge ?” Keith was trying not to shout.

“well you could describe it as a revenge but as an intellectual I prefer saying that I’m creating the possibility for you to bond together with the side effect of annoying you.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, his anger boiling down a little.

“did you just meme ?”

“I told you I’m still young ! Now leave before someone sees us interacting, I don’t want weird rumors to spread.”

“Coran, no one will ever spread rumors about us. And by us I mean you.”

“psh, who wouldn’t jump on the opportunity of flirting with a man as great as me ?”

Keith left without saying anything.

“it’s because of this attitude that he hates you you know !” Coran screamed at him across the hallway. Keith turned around and saw him giving him a thumb up with a bright smile. He was powerless against that smile.

~~

Hunk was trying to cheer Lance up but nothing was working. Pidge was out at a friend’s place for the night, Hunk was alone to take care of Lance who was dealing with a severe case of not even god like me. At first, Lance didn’t want to talk about was wrong and he just kept on sulking. Hunk tried everything he could to cheer him up and take his mind off of whatever was bothering him but nothing was working.

“listen buddy, I don’t know what got you in this mood but you will need to talk about it now. I am not moving until you tell me what happened.”

Lance tried to ignore him at first, but soon he gave up. There was nothing he hated more than silence.

“I have a group assignment to do with Keith.” he said with a little voice.

“that’s all ?” Hunk was surprised it took so little time to get him to say it.

“that’s already a lot you know ? Did you forget the whole we hate each other so much we can’t even stay in the same room without trying to kill each other thing ?”

“of course not, it’s hard to get past this.”

Lance bit his bottom lip. “how is Pidge dealing with this ?”

“bad I would say, they really hoped you would get together at least. Even when I said we should see you separately, they didn’t want to give up. He’s their best friend after all, and you’re important as well.”

“I don’t want them to choose between us” Lance looked at the floor, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Hunk put a hand on his shoulder. “I know bro, but having you in the same room is like a bomb, you’re bound to explode.”

Lance looked at Hunk with a sheepish smile.

“I’m sorry for putting you through this.”

“you should apologize to Pidge.”

they sat in silence for a moment.

“i think that this assignment could help ease the tensions between you and Keith, maybe it’s not a bad thing.” Hunk said eventually.

Lance cocked an eyebrow at him. “no, it won’t. We hate each other, remember ?”

“do you hate him ?”

“yeah”

“why ?”

“he annoys so much ! He can’t just hate me silently, he needs to shove it in my face that he thinks he’s better than me.”

“so you hate him, because you think he hates you.”

“what ? No ! I hate him because he thinks he is better than everyone else and I can’t stand that attitude. And guess what ? He is the worst, I don’t want to work with him.”

“did you even give him a chance ?”

“he didn’t remember me ! Who doesn’t remember a classmate ?”

“maybe he has a bad memory”

“are you taking his side ?”

“I’m taking the side where you end up getting along. You were happy to talk about Keith’s tattoos with Shiro that time.”

“it’s different” Lance pouted and fixed his gaze on the floor. “I like his tattoos, not him.”

“if you’re friends he’ll let you look at them you know.”

Lance snickered. “what kind of shit bait is this supposed to be ?”

Hunk smiled back. “he doesn’t let anyone touch them, but maybe he’ll let you someday.”

Lance turned his head to the side so fast there was no way it didn’t hurt him. “what are you talking about ?”

Hunk fidgeted.

“well, if it helped you bond together, maybe he would let you touch his tattoos. They are pretty intimate for, especially since they are made by his brother.”

“if they are so important to him, he would never let me even get close to them.”

“you never know, he would do a lot of things for Pidge’s sake.”

“you’re always saying that, is he in love with them or something ?”

Hunk snickered. “nah, he’s considering them as family, like a younger sibling. Well, Matt and Shiro have been together for quite some time after all, it would not surprise me if Pidge and Keith ended up being step siblings. And even if they had feelings for each other it would never work out, since Keith is like really gay.”

“I knew it ! There was no way he could be attracted to girls with that mullet. What do you mean, really gay ?”

“gayer than Matt.”

“is it possible ?”

“that’s what Pidge told me.”

“no one can outgay Matt, I mean, he jumps on every hunk he sees ! He even tried to hit on me when he has Shiro already !”

“I don’t think Pidge meant it this way Lance.”

Lance thought for a moment. “wait do you mean he has skirts and dresses and crop tops and shorts shorter than Pidge’s patience when you touch their tech thingies ?”

“Maybe, I don’t have a close relationship with his dressing”

Lance threw his head back against the cushion, his hands coming up to hide his blushing face.

“is it okay to think he could be a little bit attractive under that mullet ?”

“I’m not one to judge” Hunk laughed.

Lance smiled through his hands.

“but that doesn’t explain why he can’t have a relationship with Pidge.”

“oh right, you’re not one for subtext, I meant he likes a good and Pidge is aroace, that’s two obvious reasons.”

He dropped them to his sides.

“can you be anymore blunt ?”

“does it disturb you ?”

“no ! Of course not”

“oh is it the word dick that weirds you out ? I know some synonyms : erection, boner, cock, member, penis, ...”

“Hunk please stop it”

“you’re blushing so hard man, you have no trouble flirting with girls but when we talk about men it’s a whole other story”

“are you making fun of me ?”

“no ? I think it’s cute. I want to see you try to flirt with a man”

“I don’t need to flirt with boys, I’m having enough fun with women” he said with a smirk that didn’t fit the redness of his face.

“I don’t want details, please” Hunk pleaded with his palms slammed together in front of him.

“if you don’t want to hear about how to please a woman, then I won’t reveal my secrets to you”

“I don’t want to hear about your secrets to please a woman, please I don’t want to have a ptsd from imagining you naked with someone else”

“hey ! That’s mean !” Lance hit him on the arm playfully.

“you’re still blushing bro, that’s so cute”

“no I’m not !” Lance hid his cheeks behind his palms. “and I’m not cute okay ? I’m awesome.”

Hunk rolled his eyes. “you wish !”

they sat in comforting silence for a moment, Lance rubbed his cheeks to will the blood to go back to the other parts of his body.

“when are you starting working together ?” Hunk said.

“tomorrow” Lance answered with a neutral tone that surprised hunk.

“where are you working ?”

“at Pidge’s flower shop.”

“if you shout at each other tomorrow, I won’t cook for you ever again.”

Lance looked up at him, Hunk was dead serious.

“but what if he’s the one to start it ?”

“I won’t make you food ever again.”

Lance nodded, he didn’t have a choice.

~~

He arrived early at the flower shop, he thought he would get some time alone with Keith but he was already there, working beside Pidge. They were both working on their computer. Lance shook off the images of Keith in tiny clothes before he walked up to them. Pidge was the first one to notice him.

“hi ! What are you doing here ?”

Keith glanced up at him for a second before going back to his computer.

“you didn’t tell them ?” Lance looked at Keith who only shrugged. Lance took deep breathes in and out. “we have a group project together, we’re going to work here.”

Pidge frowned. “if you start to yell, I’m kicking you out. Both of you.”

Lance winced. “Hunk already blackmailed me”

Pidge smiled. “I’m proud of him, he’s such a good student, what did he blackmail you with ?”

“no more food if I loose my cool.”

Pidge wiped a fake tear under their eye. “he surpassed the teacher”

“i hope Mullet will cooperate” Lance smirked.

“ho he will, don’t worry.” Pidge grinned, it sent a cold shiver down Lance’s spine. They went back to typing more and more code in their computer. He didn’t want to know what he was being blackmailed with.

“is Rover going well ?” Lance asked. He didn’t want to get to work just yet.

“yes, we should be able to do a fly test soon”

“that’s good ! I want to be here”

“you will. Go work now.”

Lance took a chair on the side of the table, Keith on his right. Keith wasn’t acknowledging his presence yet. Lance took out his computer, Pidge was called by the manager to get all sorts of flowers throughout the store. Lance followed them for a few seconds before he put his attention on Keith. He stared at the boy as if it was the first time he ever saw him. Which was probably true, they had never been so close to each other without yelling. He studied the black ink creeping up his neck from under his collar. He never noticed the holes he had in his left ear, he counted five of them. He could see a small brown ink hiding under his long hair behind his ear. He almost reached out to take a better look at the small tattoo but he stopped himself. He hated Keith. Lance cleared his throat to get Keith’s attention, it finally worked.

“we need to talk if we want to get this assignment done.” Lance smirked.

Keith looked at him without even turning his head.

“did you start working ?”

Lance clicked his tongue. “yes I did.” Lance showed him a paper on which was written a list of books he thought would be useful about the altean civilization, an ancient civilization that is now extinct. Keith read the title and nodded.

“I have them already”

Lance cocked an eyebrow at that. “how come ?”

“I know someone who is very passionate about the Altean civilization, he has all sorts of books.”

“why didn’t you tell me then ?”

“you didn’t ask.”

They glared at each other.

“I know a lot about Altea already, I would be fine without you.” Keith said, looking back at his computer.

“did you hear Coran ? This is a group assignment. We are supposed to do it together. So we’re going to split the load of work, whether you want to or not.” Lance said, his arms crossed over his chest. He couldn’t believe Keith was already getting him out of the way when they had started working together about 30 seconds ago.

“you’re going to slow me down. I can do this on my own.”

“no. I’m not letting you bring my grades down. You are going to give me the list of books you don’t have so I can take care of working on those.”

Keith glanced up at him. Lance was sure he saw him flinch when their eyes met. He smirked, relieving in the fact that he had an effect on him, he liked to think it was fear. Keith’s eyes dropped to his lips a fraction of second before he looked away, Lance’s smirk grew bigger. He had won a battle against Keith and that was enough to put him in high spirits.

“fine, go work on those books.” he gave him back the paper, a lot of the books had a cross on them.

“on it. We need to choose a subject now.”

“architecture” Keith said without looking up from his computer, as if everything was settled.

Lance took a breath in and out. “why architecture ?”

“it’s Coran’s favorite.” he stated as if it was common knowledge.

“how do you know ?” Lance frowned.

“you didn’t notice how passionate he is about architecture ?” Keith’s eyes were darting around on the screen.

“he’s pretty passionate about everything concerning Altea.” Lance deadpanned.

“I know he loves architecture, just roll with it.”

“no.”

Keith’s eyes snapped up, his brows furrowed enough to create creases around his eyes. “and why is that ?”

“because if you know, then other might know and a lot of people will choose this subject. Also, because you decided alone and this a group project so we need to choose together.”

“not a lot of people know that’s his favorite subject.” Keith argued.

“if you don’t like the subject you won’t do a good job.” Lance snarled.

“it’s because you don’t think of what the professor likes that you are second.” Keith grunted.

Lance stood up, opened his mouth but Hunk’s words resonated in his mind. He breathed in and out a few times before sitting back down. He didn’t care about the weird looks he got from Keith.

“I’m trying to make this work here, can’t you help me ?” Lance glared at him.

“you’re not.”

“I am.”

“no, you’re just refusing everything I’ve made until now.”

“because you decided on your own. we’re a team. We don’t like that but it’s a fact, for now we are a team and there’s no leader. You can’t make a decision on your own.” Lance held his glare.

Keith glared back, he didn’t want to lose this battle.

“so, what subject are choosing ?” Lance asked again, without lowering his glare.

“architecture.” Keith answered.

“you got it wrong.” Lance shook his head.

“we’re doing architecture.” Keith frowned.

“nope.” Lance sang.

“we must do architecture.” Keith’s frown deepened.

“try again.” Lance smirked.

“we should do architecture ?” Keith was slightly raising an eyebrow.

“almost there” Lance showed a glimpse of white teeth in his smirk.

“do you want to work on architecture ?”Keith’s glare hardened.

“there you go !” Lance smirked genuinely for a second. He almost didn’t notice Keith’s eyes widen. “why do you want to do architecture ?”

“that’s Coran’s favorite subject.”

“no, the real reason.”

“that’s the real reason.”

“no, it’s not. We both know it.” Lance insisted.

“I’m telling you this is the real reason.” Keith’s face tensed again. Lance sighed, he liked the slightly less tensed Keith better.

“no, it’s not.”

“it is.” Keith’s glare hardened;

“you know it’s not. If you don’t tell me the truth, I will force you to choose another subject.”

Keith didn’t say anything for a moment, staring at Lance until he decided to just go along with him. But Lance was as stubborn as Keith and neither was going to give up. Keith wanted to punch his know-it-all smirk off his face. Lance wanted to watch a little longer as he could get a reaction over every little thing he did. Raising an eyebrow, Keith’s frown deepened. The corner of his mouth going a little higher, Keith’s mouth soften. His eyes getting a little softer, Keith’s mouth went back to being a thin line. And if his glare hardened, Keith’s would harden as well. He could see the creases on Keith’s forehead behind his long bangs. He had never realized how deep his hair was. Or how his dark gray eyes had a purple tint to them. He never noticed the small freckles on his cheekbones. Or how much he bit his lips when he was stressed. How Keith’s eyes were fluttering between his left and right eye, he didn’t know which one to look at. Keith’s breath got caught in his throat, Lance realized he was wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue. He almost turned his head away from Keith. He couldn’t believe what he saw. He felt the blush creeping up on the back of his neck. He hated Keith, he wasn’t suppose to find him attractive.

“Hunk, I wish you were here dude.” Pidge whispered from behind a shelf. They couldn’t go back to their computer when they had only started talking, so they decided to call Hunk and keep him updated.

“what’s happening ? What’s happening ? don’t leave me hanging like that !”

“they are talking”

“wait, seriously ?”

“yes, I am positive they are talking. Not screaming, talking.”

“I’m so proud of them”

“wait they are getting agitated ! Lance got up !”

“oh no, that’s it it’s the end he will scream”

“he’s… breathing… Lance is breathing !”

“did Keith try to kill him ? don’t tell me Keith tried to kill him”

“no no, he just calmed himself. Oh he sat back down. He didn’t scream, I repeat he did not scream.”

“my baby, my bro, I’m so proud of him.”

“Lance is having his way with Keith !”

“Pidge, this sounds very wrong”

“Lance is playing around with Keith ! And it’s working !”

“wait really ?”

“i can’t believe they are talking, this sounds surreal. Wait, they are holding another staring contest !”

“oh god, I don’t want to hear about it”

“no they are, just glaring at each other”

“they stopped talking to stare at each other ? I don’t believe you.”

“wait a moment… there I sent you a proof”

“oh my god they are almost not glaring”

“the atmosphere around feels different”

“like they would still battle but they would also try not to aim for the face”

“yeah that’s right”

“are they still staring ?”

“yep, they like it apparently”

“how long are they going to compete ?”

“until one passes out I guess. Lance is messing around again”

“Lance don’t ruin this moment.”

“Keith has the upper hand ! Lance started getting agitated all of a sudden. Keith has as much emotions as a rock. They will reach an agreement soon ! Lance won’t hold out much longer.”

“they were battling over something ?”

“yes, when they can’t scream they stare apparently. They’re weird.”

“they’re our weirdos.”

“keep them for yourself.” Pidge snorted.

“I am not keeping two problematic children by myself.” Hunk feigned being hurt.

“ask Shiro to get Keith back then”

“Shiro has too much on his arms, he has Matt to take care of.”

“you’re right, we should give him Lance instead.”

“you’re mad, Shiro would not last a day with them around”

“it would be fun to watch ! Wait Lance is moving ! He gave up ! He lost the battle against Keith !”

“what were they even sparring for ?”

“I have no idea Hunk, I’m not around them. They are not talking anymore, just working side by side. Ah Lance is preparing to leave, talk to you later”

“yep later !”

Pidge hang up and looked as Lance was coming over to them.

“I’m leaving now, bye Pidge”

“was everything okay ?”

“yeah for the most part. We didn’t yell at least.”

“yeah, that’s impressive. Why are you leaving so soon ?”

“I need to find books. And also because I don’t want to be around him for too long, I don’t want to catch his mullet.”

Pidge snickered. “when are you getting together again ?”

“this weekend.”

“during my shift I suppose ?”

“yep”

“see you” Lance waved at them before exiting the shop.

Pidge headed back to their computer. Keith looked up at them.

“so how did it go ?” Pidge asked with a smile playing on their lips.

“we didn’t yell, so good I’d say.”

“so what are you working on ?” they sat down on their chair and looked at the code lines.

“Altean architecture”

“that’s your favorite ! it’s good he agreed to do it” they turned their head to the side to smile at Keith.

“I told him it’s Coran’s favorite”

“is it ? I think he prefers royalty and court” Pidge asked with a frown.

“he does.” Keith deadpanned.

“why didn’t you tell Lance the truth ?”

“he’s annoying.”

“that’s not a good reason.” Pidge slapped him on the back of his head.

“hey !” Keith gritted.

“be honest with him, he won’t get it if you don’t tell him.”

“but you do.”

“he’s not me or Shiro, he’s Lance and he needs you to be honest if you want to get along. If you don’t want to, then keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”

Keith didn’t say anything. Pidge was afraid he wouldn’t listen to them at all.

~~

Lance took a seat beside Pidge on Saturday afternoon. He was waiting for Keith to arrive and looked over at Pidge’s computer. He frowned and shook his head, all that code was giving him a headache. He looked over the shop, Pidge was nowhere in sight. He heard a door open and close behind him and smiled at Pidge who came from behind the shop. They smiled back.

“Lance ! you’re early today”

“yeah, I wanted to come before Keith.”

Pidge shrugged. They walked across the store, a lot of flowers in their hands. Lance followed them outside the shop.

“why are you following me ?” Pidge frowned at him.

“orchids” Lance pointed to the flowers in their arms.

“Pidge rolled their eyes. “how can you like flowers this much and be completely unable to keep one ?”

Lance put a hand over his heart. “that hurts Pidge ! It’s not my fault they keep dying !”

“you live alone in your apartment, whose fault could it be ?”

“I take good care of them.”

“you don’t since they keep dying.”

“rude.”

“and I thought you liked fuchsias” Pidge deadpanned while arranging the flowers in a pot.

Lance cocked his hips to the side. “there are too many beautiful flowers in this world to only like one in particular.”

“isn’t that why your ex dumped you ?” Pidge smirked at him.

“psh no it isn’t !” Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away. “it was complicated”

“I’m sure it was because she didn’t trust you. I can’t really blame her, you keep flirting with every beautiful thing you see.”

“but I’m not polyamorous so she didn’t need to worry.”

“but she did.”

“she waited until she broke up with me to tell me it was annoying her ! What could I do ?”

“you’re an idiot.”

“she’s the idiot for not telling me sooner.”

“you’re still an idiot.”

“can we talk about something else ? Did you finally convince Hunk ?”

“about the carnivorous plants ?” they smirked.

“yeah that”

“he’s still afraid of them”

“why am I not surprised ?”

“can you try to convince him to let me keep at least one ?”

“nope”

“but he’s scared for no reason !”

“what are you talking about ?” Keith asked from behind. Lance flinched with a squeal.

“who told you it was okay to creep up on people ?” Lance said, his bottom lip pursed in a pout.

“who’s scared ?” Keith asked Pidge.

“Hunk doesn’t like carnivorous plants” Pidge said, coming up to Keith.

“you want one ?”

“they’re my favorite plants, of course I want some.”

“why is Hunk scared of them ? They only eat insects”

“Hunk isn’t someone who make a lot of sense” Pidge grinned.

“don’t insult my best bro and expect me not to say anything !” Lance gritted, his arms crossed over his chest. “Hunk is perfect”

“he would be of he let me get some carnivorous plants.” Pidge deadpanned.

“can’t you get some without telling him ?” Keith asked.

“I don’t want to force my plants on him”

“it’s not like you’re getting a dog, you don’t need his approval.”

“that’s where you’re wrong, Mullet” Lance grunted.

“I don’t want him to loose his trust in me.” Pidge said.

Keith’s eyes shifted from Lance to Pidge.

“but you’re holding back from getting something you like”

“yeah, but my friendship with him matters more than some carnivorous plants.”

Lance glared at Keith. That’s what he hated about Keith, he only ever thought of himself.

“but it’s just plants”

“that doesn’t mean he can’t be scared of them ! He has every right to not want them in his apartment.” Lance snarled.

“but...”

“no buts. End of topic. Now you get inside, calm your nerves down and get to work.” Pidge said harshly, more annoyed than ever.

Keith followed Lance inside the shop, Pidge on his heels. Pidge went to the back to get more flowers for the front of the shop. Keith opened his laptop and they both took out their books.

“let’s get to work.” Lance said with a harsh voice. “we need to decide on what we will write about.”

“I’ve already done it” Keith deadpanned.

“don’t give me any of your attitude mullet” Lance frowned.

“I’m just telling you I already picked a thesis and a plan” Keith explained.

“without telling me. we’re partners we need to choose together”

“why can’t you be happy I worked on my own ?” Keith glared at him.

“because I want to work on this project as much as you did !” Lance almost shouted.

“Lance, don’t make me call Hunk” Pidge warned him.

“he’s the one who...” Lance stopped his sentence when he met Pidge’s cold glare. “why am I the only one being blackmailed ?” he huffed before crossing his arms over his chest and looking off to the side.

“Keith, remember what Shiro said.”

“what did he say ?” Lance perked up.

“nothing.” Keith shook his head. He took a deep breath. “patience yields focus” he muttered. “do you think we can use my thesis for this work ?”

Lance shrugged. “show me what you got and I’ll tell you” he read silently what Keith had prepared. “we should swap the second and third parts, it would make more sense.”

~~

Pidge felt their phone vibrate, 5 times straight. They opened the messaging application and saw all of them were from Hunk.

Hunk Pidge ? Is everything okay ?  
are they okay ?  
did they kill each other ?  
why are you not answering ?  
did they really kill each other ?

Pidge sighed.

Pidge no they didn’t, they have been talking for the past hour.  
Hunk talking ? Really ?  
Pidge well, most of the time. The tension go up sometimes but they work it out when I glare at them.  
Hunk do you think they will get along ?  
Pidge no idea, I don’t want any false hope  
Hunk do you think we can put them together in the same place again after ?  
Pidge not yet, it’s very fragile  
Hunk are they really starting to get along ?  
Pidge when Keith will be straightforward with Lance maybe, but it won’t happen anytime soon  
Hunk how long do they have to do their paper ?  
Pidge 3 weeks  
Hunk it won’t be enough for them to get along  
Pidge I don’t think they will ever get along as friends, more as acquaintances  
Hunk but if they can stand each other, we can try hanging out with both of them again  
Pidge yeah, but don’t press anything, let them deal with it  
Hunk of course

~~

Lance had to admit it, even if it pained him, that Keith was good. Working with him wasn’t the nicest feeling in the world but when they didn’t talk he realized it wasn’t that bad. As long as they didn’t talk. They could get work done, and it was all that mattered. Pidge was keeping an eye on them, keeping them from getting angry. And Lance was thankful for that, he didn’t like fighting with other people after all. But Keith was not easy to deal with. The shoutings stopped but his irritation was only getting bigger and bigger. Keith wanted to do everything his way, without asking Lance’s opinion. In two hours, they held at least half a dozen staring contest because Lance needed to remind him that Lance’s opinion mattered. Even on the smallest things. Sometimes, in the middle of a sentence, he would start glaring at him. The first couple times, he needed to say that Keith was in the wrong but after that, Lance didn’t need to talk, Keith would just frown and rephrase his statement into a question. And after the glaring contest, they would go back to discussing as if nothing happened. After their session, Lance left immediately, with a grin directed at Pidge. He needed to leave to his part-time job. He didn’t talk to Keith during the week, but he could feel his mind stray towards him sometimes, when he was sitting in front of him in class. He hated him less than before, that was for sure. But he still didn’t like him, he was just putting up with him for the sake of his grades. Once they were finished, he wouldn’t talk to him ever again. Like before, they would go back to being enemies. It was obvious Pidge and Hunk would try to continue to get them to like each other but it was impossible. Once this was finished, he would just need Keith to get mad at him and after they screamed at each, Pidge and Hunk would understand once and for all that they would never get along. Lance didn’t like to hurt Pidge and Hunk but he didn’t want anything to do with Keith. He entered the flower shop, he spotted Keith and Pidge talking in the front of the shop, around a bouquet of roses. Lance creeped up on them, and looked at the bouquet of red and white flowers over their shoulders.

“what are you talking about ?” he said and smirked when he saw them jump around.

“why did you do that !” Pidge squealed.

“revenge for last week” Lance grinned, his hands on his hips.

“that’s not funny” Keith grunted.

“it was from my point of view” Lance cocked his hips to the side. Keith rolled his eyes. “what are you talking about ?” he asked pointing towards the bouquet.

“roses are over-rated” Pidge snorted.

“are not” Lance looked mildly offended. “they are the purest representation of love”

“a yellow rose means you’re cheating” Keith deadpanned.

Lance glared at him. “maybe except for the yellow roses then, they are the best expression of love”

“they are pricey” Keith argued.

“they are worth the money”

“do you even like roses Lance ? aren’t too many petals ?” Pidge asked.

“well, I mean, they are not my favorite but that doesn’t mean I don’t like them !”

“are you sure you’re not just trying to contradict us ?” Pidge raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“me ? Never” Lance shook his head innocently.

“which color are your favorite roses ?” Keith asked.

“is there a color that says I can’t return your unrequited feelings, sorry not sorry ?”

“if there was one, you would be crawling under them” Pidge deadpanned.

“not me, him !” Lance pointed at Keith.

“I’ll let you know that no one ever refused me” Keith said, completely serious.

Lance glanced at him. “because you don’t flirt with anyone”

“actually, he does” Pidge said with their pointer directed towards the sky and a smile on their lips.

“what ? Who would want to make out with a mullet ?” Lance squealed.

“tattoos are a dick magnet” Keith said.

Lance turned red under Keith’s widening eyes. Pidge snickered. “do you need to be so crude ?” he asked, feeling his cheeks burning even more under the embarrassment.

“what, do you have a problem with dicks ?” Keith cocked his head to the side, trying not to smile. “you know you have one right ?”

“that’s not the problem !” Lance stuttered.

“what is it then ? Gays ? I hope you’re not flustered like that whenever you see Shiro and Matt together”

“I’m not flustered !” Lance tried to glare but it was completely ineffective as his cheeks were bright red.

“don’t start thinking weird things with my brother and Shiro please” Pidge added.

Lance turned around. “Pidge” he squealed.

“you never saw them together ? They are so gross when they watch TV, they can’t focus on the movie without one making a move” Pidge snickered, wrinkling her nose.

“no no no the worst is whenever Shiro gets out of the shower, Matt whispers bench press me senpai. This is the worst.” Keith snorted.

“I heard it once, never again. Did Shiro ever heard it ?”

“yes.” Keith winced, as if he just remembered something he desperately wanted to forget.

“what did he do ?” Pidge asked him, their eyes gleaming.

“he just blushed and said later. Matt was never the same afterwards.”

Pidge laughed. Lance had covered his ears with his hands and left to the table, he couldn’t take any more than this.

“ho my god, I would like to embarrass Matt but I know he will look at me in the eye and tell me about everything they did that night I do not want to hear about it.”

“don’t even think about asking, Coran complained about their noises for a week.”

“what ? For real ?”

“yes, apparently, they fell off the bed multiple times, Coran ended up sleeping with me.”

“are you serious ?”

“Allura came as well, not even 2 minutes after Coran.”

“for real ?”

“I shit you not. No one ever talked about what happened in this room, and I don’t want to know about it.”

“I’m curious now, how did they fall off the bed ? How many times is enough times to piss Coran ?”

“no no no I’m not listening anymore ! I don’t want to know about their sex life !”

“tell me ! I don’t have anything to blackmail Matt with.”

“it’s useless if it’s sex, he’s the first one to talk about it. No you can blackmail Shiro with it”

“I tried already, he just sent Matt to talk about their favorite positions when doing it outside, I never wanted to know about that.”

“this is knowledge I didn’t want to know Pidge, he’s my brother !”

“well Matt’s mine !”

“I always thought Shiro was shy and innocent in bed”

“nope nope nope, Matt says he’s worst than him.”

“ho god, I did not want to know that”

“how can Allura and Coran even stand sleeping next to them ?”

“I have no idea”

“oi ! Keith ! If you are finished talking about your brother’s sex life can you come over here and work ?” Lance called from across the shop.

Keith looked at Pidge who tapped his shoulder.

“keep your good mood around him, you will be less tired than when you wear a scowl.” Pidge nudged him in the side. He smiled before walking over to Lance who glanced at him with a cold stare. Keith flinched but his face didn’t tense as much as he did when he was around Lance the week before.

Pidge took out their phone.

Pidge Lance and Keith are here, and they talked together for a moment it almost felt like they were friends  
Hunk can I get my hopes up now ?  
Pidge yes

Lance was staring at Keith. He couldn’t believe they had been able to talk without him getting angry, without insults or mean look. It didn’t feel as bad as he thought it would. And now, Keith had a more relaxed face for some reason. Lance’s eyes strayed towards his neck, where he could see the black ink decorating his neck. He looked at the place where the brown outline was marked in his skin. The drawing was hidden by his long black hair, he couldn’t even see a part of it. Lance sighed, he wanted to know what it was. Lance’s eyes followed his arm, wondering what kind of designs the black fabric was hiding. Lance noticed the inch of skin revealed between the end of the black sleeve and his leather gloves where thin tendrils of crimson and purple were curling around his wrist. He looked at his right wrists, he could see the tip of a leave and a flower.

“do you need something ?” Keith asked, he was trying to sound less angry than usually.

Lance’s eyes snapped back up to meet Keith’s cold ones. “no no, it’s good I’m good, we should start already, I don’t want to stay here too long with you” Lance stuttered and took out his laptop from his bag. Keith cocked an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Lance was scolding himself internally for daydreaming while looking at his tattoos. If he was Keith he wouldn’t like people he hated to look at his arms so obnoxiously and without his consent. He slapped himself mentally, he couldn’t help it he liked Keith’s tattoos. He wanted to see Shiro’s work, since the only tattoo he saw was the small design on the back of Matt’s neck and it wasn’t a masterpiece at all. Shiro didn’t want to tattoo himself, which was weird for a tattoo artist. Lance couldn’t wait for the day he would enter Shiro’s studio to get a tattoo but he wanted to do it right : he wanted to come up with a design himself and do it because that meant something for him. But he still had no idea what to draw on his skin, or where to draw it.

“are you listening ? We need to get started as you said.” Keith snapped his fingers in front of Lance while saying it.

“ah yes, I am. What do you have ?” Lance slapped himself mentally a second time. His mind had betrayed him twice already, he couldn’t keep going like this.

Keith started reading what Lance had done over the week, Lance had nothing better to do than look at him. Keith had a different atmosphere around him, he looked more at ease than the other times. His eyebrows weren’t as furrowed and his lips wasn’t forming a tight line. Lance blinked when Keith turned towards him, pointing at a sentence on the screen.

“you need to rewrite this one, I can’t understand what you’re trying to say. And you should explain what an altean arch is as well.” Lance stared at Keith for a moment who turned to look at him. “did you hear me ?”

Lance nodded. “yes, I’m surprised that’s all.”

Keith cocked an eyebrow. “why ? Did I do something wrong ?”

“no, you did it right, so I’m surprised”

Keith’s eyes widened. “was that a compliment ?”

Lance fought his blush from setting on his cheeks. “no ! It wasn’t ! I was making fun of you !”

Keith’s lips tilted upwards. “it was.”

Lance tried to glare at Keith. “it wasn’t !”

Keith’s smile reached his eyes. “admit it, it was a compliment”

His smile tore Lance’s insides against his will. “it wasn’t a compliment okay ? So shut up and get back to work.” Lance snapped at him.

Keith’s smile faded, replaced a frown deeper than before. He didn’t say anything. Lance couldn’t believe it, his body had reacted against his will. He only reacted because he wasn’t expecting him to smile. He knew better than this. He knew he hated Keith. He knew Keith’s good looking face wasn’t to be trusted. And he knew he didn’t want to be friends with him at all, he wanted nothing to do with him. He glared at Keith during the time he took to correct Lance’s work, and Keith did the same when Lance read his work.

But Keith wasn’t showing any anger towards Lance, just surprise. He thought they were starting to get along, that Lance didn’t hate as much as before. Keith was looking forward to his time alone with Lance, even if Lance glared at him all the time. Keith had learned when Lance stopped talking to stare at him it was because he said something wrong instead of yelling at him and the way his eyes brightened when Keith said his thoughts the right way was the best treat he could ask for. And if Lance was able to smile at him even after a fight, then that had to mean something didn’t it ? And they were talking almost normally before, as if they were friends. And now, Lance was back to how they were before they started working together : ignoring him and showing blatantly that he didn’t like Keith. And he was back to how they were, with no idea of what to do to talk to him. He had no idea what he did wrong. He thought it would be okay to tease Lance, but apparently it wasn’t. And he had no idea what to do. He wasn’t sure Lance would even listen to him right now. He never did before. Keith remembered how Lance’s eyes were glued to his wrists not even an hour ago, how his gaze on him made his blood boiled under the attention. He thought he would be okay if Lance liked only his tattoos but now he didn’t want him to like his brother’s work. He wanted to be the one Lance looked at with amazement. He wanted to make him blush. He wanted to make him laugh. He wanted to make him smile. He wanted Lance to look at him the same way he looked at Pidge or Hunk. He would be fine with just that, as long as he wasn’t hated anymore. But now, all his hopes were shattered to pieces. Lance hated him. He could feel his chest tightening. He was at a loss. He glanced at Pidge who was talking with a customer, they weren’t going to help him. He was scolded by Lance at that moment. He sent a desperate glance at Pidge when they were finished with the customer. Keith didn’t know what kind of expression he was showing but Pidge nodded before going towards another customer. He tried to focus his attention on Lance but he could only focus on the serious frown on his face while he read what Keith had written. He looked good in this angle. Lance looked up at him suddenly, startling Keith.

“I finished looking over your work.” he snapped. “we’ll do another check and write the introduction and conclusion next week, if you work well, everything will be finished”

“really ?”

“yeah, then we won’t have to talk ever again.”

Keith’s heart dropped. He almost fell off of his chair. He couldn’t believe what he heard.

“what about Pidge and Hunk ?” he asked, he thought his voice would be shivering but no, it sounded far meaner than he wanted.

“they will put up with it somehow, it’s not my problem.”

“are you sure ? You don’t care if they get sad because of some selfish decision ?” he met his glare head on. He couldn’t help getting angry when he heard those words.

“my only problem is you.” Lance gritted in a calm, cold voice. Keith froze up.

“I sense tension, what’s happening ?” Pidge appeared between them. “are you talking about your last session ? You won’t be able to come here next week you know. you’ll have to find some other place to study at”

Keith and Lance looked at them with the same chocked expression.

“where are we going to study ? Pidge you can’t do that !”

“should we go to the library ?” Keith asked but Pidge shook their head.

“no can do, Lance can’t enter the library anymore, he’s red-listed”

“can we study at your place ?” Lance pleaded.

“nope. Shay is coming over and he asked me to get out of the house.”

“where will you be ?”

“at Matt’s, his house will be empty so that we can work on The Rover Project one last time before doing a fly test. Hunk has finished building the prototype !”

Lance looked at Keith. “your place then ?”

Keith shook his head. “we can’t study there.”

Lance looked back at Pidge. “you can’t do that to me”

“sorry, I thought it would be okay, you were getting along well so I already promised everyone.”

Lance took his head in his hands. “are you sure there’s no other way ?”

“yes. don’t worry, I wouldn’t push this on you if there was.”

Lance glared at Keith for a moment. “I guess we don’t have a choice. we’ll meet at my house next week.”

Keith shouldn’t feel happy about that outcome but he was. At first only, later he realized that meant they would be alone, in the apartment of someone who hated him, with no one to stop him from screaming. Keith was suddenly less happy about it.

~~

After their shift, Pidge ran home to explain to Hunk what had happened. They slammed the door, and went into the kitchen where Hunk was trying out new recipes.

“Pidge ! Tell me everything ! Why do I need to cover for you ?”

“there was no other way ! You know that I was suppose to work with Matt alone in their house this Saturday”

“yeah but Keith and Lance were supposed to work here so I could keep an eye on them ! This is not safe”

“but there was no other way ! Lance went back to full hatred towards Keith for no reason !”

“so you think it’s a good idea to put them alone in his apartment ?”

“when Keith looked at me, he was in complete despair. He doesn’t hate Lance anymore, he wants to be his friend !”

“yeah, and forcing them together won’t ease anything”

“but Lance said he didn’t want to see his face ever again, I’ve never seen Keith this sad before”

“I repeat, forcing them together will only make things worth.”

“Lance said he didn’t care about our feelings if he decided to never see him again.”

“he… Lance said that ?” Hunk stop stirring the food in his pan.

“yes, twice.”

“wow, he really hates Keith. I’m even more scared now !”

“please, let me do this one. I know it’s suicide but I want to take the risk, maybe Shiro will talk some sense in Keith’s mind”

“Keith isn’t the one who needs to talk, it’s Lance. And he will never talk about it with Shiro, not when he knows they’re brothers”

“can I count on you Hunk ?”

Hunk sighed deeply. “yes, but it’s the last time you ever try to put them together.”

“yes” Pidge said before hugging Hunk who hugged them back. “thank you, I know this will never go right but I needed to try. This is their last chance to get along together”

~~

“Allura ! Allura help me !” Keith called out when he entered the tattoo studio. Shiro appeared from behind a client, he raised an eyebrow at him.

“she’s in the back, working on the huge wolf piece.” Shiro informed him before going back to talking with the client. They were proposing a sketch of the piece they wanted and Shiro was explaining how he would draw the piece. “Keith, can you show your lion for a moment ?”

Keith took off his jacket and his tee. The lioness was drawn on his shoulder, behind her where flames creeping up on his neck and his torso. Shiro liked to show that piece, it was the first one he did in collaboration with Allura. Allura’s art was made of thin lines and mostly black and white, with a lot of details in the shadings and in the drawings. She leaned heavily towards animals and flowers drawings in a realistic drawing while Shiro preferred old school with heavy lines rather than details and working with colors, he didn’t do realistic. Around his lion, the fire was a deep shade of red, almost black. The fire lead to flames detached from the fire, as if they got a mind of their own towards freedom, thick flames running away from the fire and each other in small curved lines, heading in all direction. Each flames unique in its dark hue of red, orange or yellow. The small flames were getting thinner, longer and more spaced as they were closer to the point where the black thin edges gave the impression of melting into his fair skin. Some flames died around the fires, other died under his mullet. Each one had a proper story to tell. The lion wasn’t as detailed as Allura liked them to be but it was heavily shaded in deep brown ink to match the flames. The lion was his second tattoo, he had thought about getting a lion for a long time and when he came up with the flames, Allura and Shiro had drawn him this one. He almost didn’t do any changes to the lion, but he tried to get the flames just right, until they all looked alive. Shiro and Allura were really proud of their piece, they’re used to working together on a piece but it was the first time they worked together from the creation to the end instead of Shiro just coloring Allura’s flowers. The client praised the work on his shoulder and his wrist. They let Keith put his clothes back on. And sit behind the desk. He started waiting for Allura to finish her work, the wolf piece was one she was working on for a month now, they had barely starting the inking process. Keith wasn’t listening to Shiro and the client, even if he usually loved to look at the process of creating a design. He wanted to sulk. Another customer entered the shop, keeping Keith from moping. He stood up to attract the client’s attention, a young girl coming with her dad following her.

“hello, what can I help you with ?” Keith asked with the best smile he could muster. The father eyed him suspiciously but Keith didn’t pay attention, he always got weird looks from people. He was young after all.

“I want to be pierced” she said with a bright smile.

“how old are you ?” Keith asked, he couldn’t pierce someone younger than 16.

“17” Keith nodded and got an information flyer from the desk. She wanted one at the navel, a classic. He went over the rules to take care of a healing piercing mechanically. He shook his head, he decided to ignore the angry stare he was getting from the father, and got into the booth to do the piercing, reviewing the process of a navel piercing. He prepared his gloves and his material.

“can I take a look at your tattoos ?” the girl asked, her green eyes gleaming with excitement.

Keith lifted his sleeves, showing the flowers forming a skull on his right hand and the colorful ropes running along his left wrist. The girl looked at them intently, her hand extended towards his hands.

“is it okay if I touch them ?” she asked with a small voice.

“sorry” Keith mumbled.

She shook her head. “no, I’m the one who’s sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uneasy. Thank you for showing me, they are beautiful. Did you get them here ?”

“yes, my brother is the owner.” he retracted his hands and washed them thoroughly.

“the man with the white hair ?”

“yep, him. He did the color on the rope, the other artist did all the rest.”

“they are very talented, I like their style, especially the flowers”

“yeah, it’s her favorite thing to draw. She can do any kind of flower or animal, she’s amazingly talented. Lie down and pull your shirt up please.” he put on the gloves and took the needle in his hands.

“do you have more tattoos ?”

“i have only three more, 2 small and another big piece”

“are you pierced ?”

“i have 7 piercings on the ears and a hidden one.”

“is it really hidden or just not usually visible ?”

“It a secret” he smiled before putting himself to work. “try not to move”

The girl winced when the needle pierced her skin. He pulled in the barbel and it was finished. He stepped back to look at the piercing : it complimented nicely her chubby tummy.

“there you go, be careful in the future and if you have a problem with it, just come back and I’ll take a look at it.”

“thank you” she smiled before exiting the room. Keith was cleaning up and Shiro appeared at the door.

“so, did you change the cute princess into a shameless whore ?” Shiro said playfully.

Keith rolled his eyes at him. “it’s just a piercing”

“not for the father”

“she complimented Allura’s work”

“no one compliments mine” Shiro pouted.

“you literally only inked my tattoos, no one notices that.”

“then I’ll need to do your next tattoo. What do you want ? Yolo on your knuckles ?”

“can you even do lettering ?”

“I’m training my calligraphy at the moment”

Keith walked past him.

“did you reach an agreement with the client ?”

“he will come back later”

“what did he even want ?”

“a mermaid and an eagle”

“and you showed my fire lion for ?”

“to show the kind of gradients I could do”

“okay. When will Allura be finished ?”

“I don’t know, why ? Did something happen ?”

“sort of”

“tell me, I have some time before the next guy come here to look at the sketch”

“Lance hates me”

“what else is new ?”

“no I mean, he hates me more than before”

“does that mean he hates more or he hated you less and now it’s even worse ?”

“the second one. I thought we were getting along but apparently he was putting up with me”

Shiro petted his head. “now now, it’s okay, how do you know he hated you less ?”

“he was friendly and we didn’t yell at each other. We were blackmailed but still”

“and he hates you more ?”

“he told me for the first time that he hated me. I knew he didn’t like me but to hear him tell me he didn’t want to see my face at all, it hurts.”

“did you ever talk about it ?”

“no, he won’t listen”

“he won’t or he wouldn’t ?”

“he wouldn’t”

“you’re not sure”

“well now he won’t. Next Saturday is the last day I’ll ever see him”

“you’ll see him in class”

“we won’t talk, he will just ignore me”

“do you want me to tell him to come here ?”

“no, I don’t want to trick him into seeing me.”

“he wants a piercing, maybe he will come soon”

“he won’t ever agree to be pierced by me”

“I told him he’s not allowed to be pierced anywhere else.”

“he will never be pierced then.”

“you don’t know that”

“where does he want it ?”

“helix”

“not original”

“coming from someone who doesn’t wear his own piercings”

“shut up”

“wear them Saturday, he loves that kind of thing.”

“do you really think that just because I wear piercing he will hate me less ?”

“you’re right, go shirtless” Shiro said, dead serious. “no, give him head, he will definitely forgive you then”

“fuck you, I’m not someone who goes down on every remotely sexy man like Matt !” Keith hit his mechanical arm.

Shiro smirked, his eyes closed.

“don’t tell me…”

Shiro laughed. “not telling”

Keith studied his face. He had no idea what to believe, Matt was wild and Shiro was pretty open about their relationship. Keith grunted and looked to the side.

“you should talk to each other” Shiro said eventually.

“I told you already, he doesn’t want to.”

“Allura will tell you the same, Matt as well. Pidge and Hunk too. Even Coran will tell you to talk to him.”

“then tell him” Keith grunted before Shiro’s appointment arrived.

~~

Lance was not okay. He was waiting for Keith to arrive. He had cleaned thoroughly his apartment but it didn’t ease his nerves like Hunk had said. He didn’t want Keith to see his small apartment, so small he could only fit his desk, a small bed and a long shelf. He didn’t want Keith inside his apartment. But he couldn’t do anything about it, it was already too late. Keith was knocking at his door. Lance opened the door, and glared at Keith as he walked inside the room. He counted down to five with his eyes closed, not ready to meet Keith’s glare. He turned around and didn’t see him next to his desk. He couldn’t see the bed or the desk from where he was standing. He ran in his room, finding Keith staring intently.

“you have fishes ?” he asked, not even turning his head from looking at the tank.

Lance rubbed his neck. “yes I do. Can we work now ?”

Keith leaned to the side, trying to spot the fishes in the tank. His eyes followed a small fish with blue and red stripes across his body darting forward from a bush to another. He looked at the other tank next to the first one. His eyes were scanning the tank, following the fishes inside.

“can we work now ?” Lance asked again, trying to refrain from screaming.

Keith looked around the room and saw the last tank on the other side of the room. He walked over to look at it. He didn’t wait for a long time before spotting the fish living in this one.

“come on, it’s not the first time you see a fish tank, let’s work”

Keith turned to look at Lance. “is this salt water ?” he pointed at the tank.

Lance rolled his eyes, as if it wasn’t obvious from the plant less scape and the huge rocks. “yes it is.”

“what is this fish ? It looks like a demon”

Lance rolled his eyes again. “it’s a lionfish”

Keith frowned. “really ? It doesn’t look like a lion at all”

“I don’t make the names”

“is it alone in this tank ?”

“yes, I don’t want him to eat his tank mates so I leave him alone”

“isn’t he sad all alone in his tank ?”

“no, he’s a lone fish”

Lance had so much more to say about his lionfish, his habits, what he likes, how he follows him when feeding time approach, how he liked to hide behind the largest rock and that it made Lance anxious everytime he didn’t see him but he didn’t want to sound stupid, talking about fishes as if they were his dog especially in front of Keith. He didn’t know how he would react.

“are your fishes the reason why you don’t allow anyone here ?”

“yes”

“why ?”

“an ex girlfriend poisoned my first tank with soap almost two years ago” he cringed at his own words. He knew it sounded stupid.

Keith turned to look at him. “she poisoned them ? Why ?”

“I have no idea, I didn’t ask her. I just threw her outside with her things before I tried to save them.”

“did you save them ?”

“only one survived”

“for just soap ?”

“It’s deadly for them, I didn’t have enough containers to put them in, they ended up in tiny bowls and glasses for two day before I could put them back into the tank but it wasn’t cycled anymore. They all died, except one.”

“really ?”

“do you think I would lie about that ?” Lance snapped.

“sorry, I don’t know what to say. She was a psycho to do that, fishes are the most innocent creatures you can find, they don’t even remember you”

“actually they do” Lance snapped again.

“I always thought they didn’t have a memory” Keith looked surprised.

“they do, and it’s a good one” Lance said.

Keith nodded then. He turned back to observe the lionfish. “are you afraid someone will try to poison them again ?”

“yes I am. Do you have a problem with that ?” Lance snapped, his arms crossed over his chest. He especially didn’t like to see Keith so close to his salt water tank, considering how delicate it was.

“no, that makes sense. I would be careful too if that happened to me” Keith said in a blank tone. Lance blinked a few times. “can I watch them a little more ?” he asked looking back at Lance for his approval. Lance nodded before he realized it. It had been a long time since someone stared at his fish like him. He relaxed his tensed body a bit. “is he the survivor ?” Keith pointed at the lionfish.

Lance shook his head. “no I’ve had this tank for only 6 months.”

Keith nodded. “does he have a name ?”

“blue” Lance answered immediately. He thought he was going to laugh at him but Keith only nodded before crossing the room to look at the fresh water tanks.

“do they all have names ?”

“most of them, but some have one name for the whole school, like the tetras.” he relaxed slightly when he realized Keith wouldn’t make fun of him.

“school ?” He raised an eyebrow.

“a hoard of fish.”

Keith nodded. “can you tell me more about them ?” Keith asked with a sheepish smile, without looking at Lance.

“no need to be polite.” Lance snapped.

“I’m not trying to be polite, I want to learn more about your fishes, it’s my first time looking at a living fish this closely.” he explained, looking at Lance.

Lance’s eyes widened. He moved next to Keith to look at the tank.

“what’s a tetra ?”

“the red, blue and silver little fishes, they’re neon tetras. They are called Clod. I have twelve of them in this tank.”

“is the survivor in this one ?”

“yes, it’s the leopard printed fish with weird tentacles on it’s face, it’s a male ancistrus.”

“what kind of description is that ?”

“what he looks like. there’s a female in the other tank but they don’t move much. they’re busamen and ikemen”

Keith smiled at that. “shiro says those words all the time”

“the names come from him actually”

Keith glanced at him. “Shiro is allowed here ?”

“of course, why wouldn’t he ? Plus, he helped me build the tanks.”

“i guess it makes sense. The couple in the top is cute, it’s a couple right ?”

“yes, they are. The male has the vibrant red stripes and the female is the white one. he’s Thelma and she’s Louise. they’re dwarf gouramis”

“I like their long antennas”

“that’s fins” Lance smiled.

“it’s fins ?”Keith frowned, confused.

“it is”

“but it doesn’t look like fins”

“I don’t make the rules. They have sensors in those fins”

Keith stared at the couple, watching them swim around at the top of the tank. Lance was staring at Keith, surprised that he was the type to care about fish tanks.

“is that all there is in the tank ?” Keith looked at the bottom of the tank, he squinted his eyes to see more fishes. He pointed a finger towards a moth bush. “there !”

“don’t tap the glass” Lance frowned.

“sorry. What are they ?” he glanced at Lance.

“Killies. I have two trios of different species in this tank.”

“do they have names ?”

Lance nodded. He scanned the tank to see the males. “the blue and red here is called Mortimer”

Keith looked at the long and thin fish with small fins and bright blue scales and dots of red across its body. He liked this one.

“the red and orange is called Michel”

He looked to the other fish, which had the same body but with longer fins that became thinner at the edges.

“the females all look the same, they are called Marinara.”

Keith turned to look at Lance with an unamused frown. “what the fuck kinda name is that ?”

Lance stopped himself right in time before he smiled. “I can call them whatever I want.”

“yeah but, why Marinara ? Mortimer and Michel are cute but then you have Marinara.”

“if you have a problem with my naming process, you’re welcome not to ask.”

“sorry” Keith muttered. “do you think I can see the survivor ?”

Lance looked to the side of the tank. “come here”

Keith came up to him, close enough to get a full view of the side glass of the tank. Lance moved back, he didn’t like being close to Keith.

“he’s on the mossy rock”

Keith squinted to see the dark fish and his mouth dropped when he saw the fish.

“it’s an ancistrus, it’s the biggest fish of all my tanks but he doesn’t move much during the day.”

“it’s ikemen right ? he’s so pretty with the long tentacles”

Lance stared at him. “are you serious ?”

Keith glanced at him, his confused frown mixing with a small smile. “yes ?”

“you’re the first one to say that he’s pretty.”

“but he is so cute !”

“he’s ugly cute”

“no ! I’m the only one who can see his true beauty.”

“do you have weird tastes in everything ? Why am I even asking, you have a mullet”

Keith glared half halfheartedly at him. He moved to look at the other tank.

“how wide are your tanks ?” he asked, looking at the decor”

“the one you’re looking at is 20 gallon, this one is 30 gallon.”

Keith nodded, looking at the fishes in the 20 gallon.

“so where’s ikemen ? I want to see if it lives up to its name”

Lance moved towards his other tank. He looked around the bottom, no trace of the female ancistrus.

“found it ! She has a weird mouth” Keith said happily.

Lance moved to him, Ikemen was sucking at the glass behind the vegetation.

“I prefer busamen, this one’s too plain”

“it’s not her fault she’s a female”

“not sure if I should read into the subtext”

Lance rolled his eyes. “don’t”

“what other fishes do you have in there ?”

“an angelfish, she’s Kermit”

“Kermit ?” Keith raised an eyebrow.

“that’s Pidge’s idea okay, I didn’t choose it. it’s the big black and white fish, you can’t miss it.”

Keith looked at the flat and long fish swimming gracefully, her long fins giving her an eerie look.

“there’s a rainbow shark”

Keith’s eyes gleamed. “you have a shark ?”

“no, it’s just the name.” Keith pouted. “it’s the teal fish with the red fins”

“is it called something like Freddy Mercury ?”

“no, Hunk chose his name, he’s Pasta.”

Keith stared at him with his head cocked to the side. “really ? Pasta ?”

Lance shrugged. “yeah, Hunk was the first one to see the fish, so he named it.”

“if Matt knew he would have been so upset” Keith snorted.

“that’s why he named the neon tetras Clod, Fuck Off, You Motherfucker, I Hate You, You’re Not Even Funny, This Was My Moment, You Ruined Everything, No One Likes Me, Except Shiro, Love You Shiro, I’m So gay, and Matt Is the Best.” he said, pausing between each name dramatically and counting on his fingers in case he was missing one name. When he realized he remembered them correctly, he smirked contently. He was even cockier when he looked over Keith’s dumbfounded expression. “and that’s why I call them all Clod.”

“Matt is savage”

“what else is new ?”

Keith nodded. “I can’t believe he was still able to put a cheesy line in there.”

“I would have been more surprised if he hadn’t. Shiro was so embarrassed when I told him about the names.”

“when did you get them ?”

“about a week after I got the rainbow shark.”

“all 12 of them ?”

“yes, at first I only had the small tank. I didn’t have any tetras when I moved my fishes from the 20 to the 30 gallon. Matt was the first one to know I got the tetras, he wanted to make sure he would choose the names.”

“why are you letting them choose the names ?”

“they think my names aren’t cool, which is absurd, my names are the best suited for my fishes.” Lance made finger guns under his chins.

“keep telling yourself that.” Keith smirked.

Lance glared but it faded when he saw Keith observing the angelfish moving and staring back at him. Keith liked his fishes, big deal. Maybe he was cute, looking at Kermit with a fond a fond smile but that didn’t mean he was starting to appreciate the man. He was thankful he didn’t make fun of him for having fishes and naming them. He was also happy that he wasn’t a weird psycho waiting to kill his fishes. He knew this was a ridiculous way of thinking but his fishes meant a lot for him and having someone murder them when he was only starting was not a good memory. Keith walked to the saltwater tank on the other of the room. He looked at the small lionfish sitting on the top of the boulder.

“are you planning on giving him a tank mate ?”

“yes, maybe an eel. it’s a 40 gallon tank so it should be okay if I put some more caves in there.”

“don’t you want a nemo ?”

“not really” Lance shrugged. He liked clownfishes but they weren’t his favorite type of salt water fish. “and the lionfish would eat them eventually.”

“that’s kinda sad”

“it’s a predator”

“don’t you want to put corals in there ?”

“not in this one, but maybe in another saltwater tank.”

“do you plan on getting more ?”

“more tanks ? Yes, I want other fishes. But I can’t for now.”

“why ?”

“the apartment is too small” Lance shrugged.

Lance sat down on his bed and took out his phone. Keith wasn’t going to move anytime soon. He could understand him, he loved looking at his tanks. He read a message from Pidge.

Pidge how’s it going ? Is he still alive ?  
Lance no  
Pidge what ? I swear to god if something happened to him  
Lance calm down, he’s looking at the tanks  
Pidge really ?  
Lance yeah  
Pidge I didn’t know he liked fishes  
Lance he’s been looking at the tanks for half an hour, he doesn’t just like fish, he’s fascinated  
Pidge you finally found someone who liked fishes as much as you ! aren’t you happy ?  
Lance no. he found busamen pretty, how lame are his tastes ?  
Pidge which one’s busamen ?  
Lance the hentai fish  
Pidge yes this one ! he’s ugly cute  
Lance he found busamen pretty, like really pretty. he’s looking at him right now, he’s smiling he’s creeping me out  
Pidge just get to work already, he can just come again later to look at them  
Pidge did I just hear you shrug ?  
Lance shut up

Lance looked at Keith who was still staring at Busamen.

“are they really that interesting ?” Lance asked out of the blue.

Keith’s eyes softened, they gleamed dimly under the light of the aquarium. “I might never come back here” he whispered, Lance barely heard him. He nodded at that, he wasn’t going to see Keith again after that afternoon. He could feel his resolution falter, Keith wasn’t so bad right now. He looked cute. Lance hated that he found him attractive. He thought that maybe, maybe, if he had shown this side of himself before acting like a dick, maybe they could have been friends. The atmosphere around them was weird, but Lance liked it. He liked the relaxed silence between them, the way Keith blended into his room. He glanced at him eventually, he blushed when he saw Keith’s smile. He leaned backwards on his bed until his back hit the wall behind him. He glanced again at Keith who leaned his head to the side to look at every plant and rock in the decor. He looked as his eyes widened when a gourami swam in front of his eyes to stare at him. He saw him chuckling, and Lance felt his heart beat louder. He looked to the other side of the room. He was trying to convince himself that no, he wouldn’t get used to this. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the black haired boy in his apartment. A finger nudged the top of his arm and he prepared his best glare to direct it at Keith. But it faded when he saw his relaxed face. He couldn’t get angry at Keith when he was showing a childish side of himself.

“Pidge told me that you were completely useless when it came to plants, I’m surprised there are so much in your tanks” he said softly, his gray eyes staring at him with too much intensity for Lance’s approval : even if Keith wasn’t in his personal space, it still felt like he was intruding in on Lance for some reason.

“it’s because they’re in water, they’re easier to care for” Lance shrugged, trying to remain unfazed. He looked back at his phone.

“still, they look really good and healthy”

“yeah they are.” he could feel Keith’s stare on him.

“they look good in your tanks”

“not really, I never did any real scaping in the tank, I just stacked them in the tank 2 years ago, the settings will change when I move out. And I will add more plants as well since I plan on adding substrat as well” Lance said with a voice as neutral as possible, but he loved talking about his tanks.

“I still think they look good though” did he hear the smile in his voice or was he reading too much into everything ?

“it looks plain” Lance shrugged.

“why don’t you scape them now then ?”

“I want to change the tanks completely, I can’t do it with the fishes in there.”

“I’m curious what it will look like, when will you move out ?”

“I don’t know”

Keith leaned against the wall as well. Lance glanced at him, he was still looking at the tanks. What a nerd. Well, Lance shouldn’t say that when he was the one owning the tanks.

“we should start working” Keith said eventually. It took a second for Lance to nod and stand up. He got a chair for Keith and they started working. They didn’t yell. They didn’t glare at each other. They didn’t make any mean comments. They didn’t talk about anything that didn’t concern Altean architecture. They didn’t annoy each other. They got the work done and ready to hand over to Coran. Lance stretched his arms over his head, a satisfied hum coming from his lips.

“we did it” Keith sighed.

Lance looked at the time. “it’s late, Shiro’s studio must be closed now”

“it’s okay, I told them I wouldn’t be able to work today.”

“right”

They didn’t say anything, Lance wanting to bask in the comforting atmosphere Keith had brought in his house for a moment longer. Usually, he would have suggested to eat together. But instead, he lead him towards the door. Keith lingered in front of his door for a moment, Lance was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Keith fidgeting under his cold stare.

“well…” Keith scrubbed his arm with his opposite hand. “thank you for letting me in, I like your apartment”

Lance huffed at that. “you’re welcome.”

Keith looked at him, surprised by the harshness in his tone. “see you later then”

“farewell” Lance answered with a cold glare. He closed his door on Keith’s dumbfounded stare. He leaned against the door, willing his mind to stop finding Keith cute. He didn’t like him. They hated each other. He didn’t like him. Who did he think he was, acting kind all of a sudden when he had been a jerk all that time. Just because he showed a little kindness didn’t mean Lance would forget.

~~

Keith slammed the door of their apartment. 

“Shiro oh my fuck Shiro !” Keith yelled.

He went into the kitchen and found Shiro preparing the food with Coran rambling about a documentary he saw during the day.

“Shiro ! Oh god, Shiro”

he turned around to look at him, his white strand of hair held back.

“I was currently talking with Shiro young man”

“why didn’t you tell me ?” Keith winced, ignoring completely Coran.

“tell you what ?” Shiro raised his eyebrows but didn’t stirring the rice.

“he has fishes !” Keith grunted.

“and ?”

“he has 3 tanks !”

“I know”

“he has like 20 fishes in them !”

“why are you upset ?”

“because this was vital information !”

“what ? Did you freak out ?” Shiro had stopped stirring.

“yes I did !”

Shiro chuckled. “did you scream and fainted ?”

“no ! I spent an hour looking at them !”

Shiro stilled for a couple seconds. “what ?”

“I stared at them for at least an hour ! I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them ! I have no idea how I even stopped looking at them !”

“an hour ?” Shiro asked more for himself than to get an answer.

“I didn’t know you liked fishes Keith” Coran said, brushing his mustache.

“I didn’t know either ! It was my first time ever looking at a fish tank” Keith sat down on a chair. “they were so pretty, I couldn’t stop watching them !”

“well it is never too late to find new interests in life ! Just yesterday I realized I loved sharks way more than I already did !” Coran sang.

“how did Lance react ?” Shiro asked.

“he just sat on his bed and didn’t talk until I stopped watching the fishes.”

“he didn’t talk at all ?”

“no, he showed me each fish separately first, your namings are all stupid ! Especially Pasta ! What kinda name is that ?”

“Pasta ? that’s the gay fish right ?”

“yeah, I totally understood why Matt was so pissed at Hunk, a rainbow shark called Pasta, fucking Pasta.”

“Matt said Hunk’s cuisine was bad” Shiro explained.

“okay now I understand the name.”

“did he tell you about the school name ?”

“yeah, how can Lance remember all the 12 names ?”

“no idea”

“you were the first one to name a fish right ?”

“the hentai fish ? it’s busamen, isn’t it ?”

“yeah this one”

“it wasn’t called busamen at first, but Lance kept the nickname anyway.”

“so did he talk about them ? Their habit and all that jazz ?”

“not really, he just told me their names.”

“I was sure he would, he loves talking about them, he’s completely hopeless when it comes to his fishes.”

“he’s really careful with them”

“you would be if someone you trusted killed your animals”

“I don’t mean it in a bad way, I just think it’s sad that he doesn’t show them off”

“what do you mean ? He talks about them all the time”

“he never told me”

“you hate him”

“no I don’t”

“that’s not what he told me”

“do I sense some kind of misunderstanding perhaps ?” Coran suggested.

“I would never hate him, I mean yes he’s irritating and he has a bad attitude but I never hated him” Keith said, not acknowledging Coran who left the kitchen. “and now he just said farewell when I left his house, it’s too late”

“did you ever tell him what you think of him ?”

“no. But he didn’t say anything either.”

“he’s stubborn but you’re even worse. If he didn’t stop you from looking at his tank to get you out of his house as soon as possible that means there might be some kind of hope for a possible friendship.”

“really ?”

Shiro cringed at the wave of hope he created in Keith.

“maybe”

Keith smiled.

“but you need to talk it out” Shiro added but Keith wasn’t listening anymore.

~~

Lance was eating popcorn, laying on the couch in Pidge and Hunk’s living. It was Voltron day, and it meant a good old night with his two best friends. He was watching a cheesy romance movie on television while waiting for the show to start. Pidge had something to work on and Hunk wouldn’t come back from the restaurant for a while. Lance couldn’t go on social media, he didn’t want to be spoiled, so he had nothing better to do than cringe and wince at a stupid hopeless girl head over heels in love with a random pretty guy. The plot wasn’t even trying to be original and the characters were completely empty, he couldn’t believe he was even watching this show. He rolled on his back, he had stopped caring about the movie for a while anyway. It had been 2 weeks since he had last seen Keith. He was thankful to his friends for not pushing them together. Lance didn’t comment on his afternoon with Keith, he just said that Keith looked at the tanks for a while before they worked and said their farewells. Nothing more. And that was the truth. He didn’t want anything to do with Keith ever again. Keith probably wanted the same anyway. No, he wasn’t going to think about Keith again. He rolled to his side, his face against the back pillows. He wasn’t going to think about Keith because he wasn’t missing him. Sure, it had been unsettling that Keith wasn’t there, talking with Pidge but that didn’t mean he was sad Keith wasn’t there. Lance grunted. He was thinking about Keith. He just couldn’t understand the gap between his characters. There were two Keith. There was no other explanations for this. Keith had just been so different from the Keith Lance had known at first. This Keith was calmer, less irritating, easier to talk with and easier on the eye. Even his mullet was less annoying. And he liked fishes. Lance was sure this fact was the reason why he kinda wanted to see him. None of his friends liked fishes as much as he did, they didn’t really care about them. Pidge and Hunk still looked at the tanks when they hung out at Lance’s but they didn’t stare for an hour at them. Even if it was Keith’s first time to look at a tank, his tanks had nothing that would get you to stare at them for an hour. He doesn’t have that much fishes. He doesn’t even have any fancy fish. Well a lionfish could be considered as fancy. But Keith looked at busamen for a long time. An ancistrus is nowhere near fancy, it doesn’t move. And it has weird tentacles. Lance chuckled when he remembered how shocked Keith was when learned he was the busamen ancistrus. Lance frowned. No he was not thinking Keith was cute because he wasn’t. He couldn’t be cute when he had a mullet, it is just not compatible. I might never come back here. Lance stared into nothingness as he remembered his words. He didn’t pay attention to them at the moment but now that he thought about it Keith sounded upset, sad, depressed, something that had to do with not being happy. Was he actually trying to stay with him as long as he could ? Or did he just like fishes that much ? He had no idea. Pidge sat on him, startling Lance out of his thoughts. Lance looked up at them with a frown before squinting.

“is it me, or you have a piercing ?” Lance asked.

Pidge grinned and pushed back their hair.

“yes, I do.”

Lance stared at the silver barbel crossing their right ear from the helix to the anti helix.

“when ?” Lance yelled excitedly.

“this afternoon” Pidge grinned even more.

“I wanted to be the first one to be pierced” Lance frowned.

“you didn’t make your mind on time” Pidge smiled.

“I want to get the right piercing” Lance cocked his head.

“you just want one that won’t hurt”

“no that’s false !”

Pidge cocked an eyebrow. “really ?”

Lance flinched. “yeah, I want one that doesn’t hurt too much”

“just go ask Keith about it”

Lance stiffened. “I can’t do that”

“why not ? You were getting along well”

“because”

“oh god, what happened with him ?”

“nothing”

Pidge sighed heavily. “then you don’t mind if I talk about him, do you ?” Pidge smirk.

Lance rolled his eyes and rested his head on the couch. Pidge cocked their head up.

“did you ever notice his tattoo behind his ear ?” Lance nodded absentmindedly. “it was inked today”

Lance glanced up at Pidge who took the hint.

“what is it ? Do you care about him ?”

“no I don’t.” Lance frowned and buried his face in the back pillow.

“yeah, it’s just your fetish taking over”

“I don’t have a fetish !” Lance snapped.

“keep telling yourself that” Pidge smirked. “do you want to know about the tat’ ?”

Lance winced, before nudging his face against the cushion. “yeah” he mumbled.

“it’s purple now, with a black outline.”

“why was it brown ?”

“you saw it before ? It’s hard to notice it with his hair”

“it’s not like I wanted to see it”

“yeah, right. Anyway, he didn’t change the outline at all. he’ll let take a look next time you see him.”

Lance didn’t answer.

“he’s working on a new tattoo, he will come to the flower shop”

Lance looked up at Pidge.

“doesn’t he already have a flower ?”

“did you see his hand ?” Pidge was surprised.

“not his hands, he never puts down his gloves. But you can still see the tattoos between his gloves and wrists.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him, slowly.

“don’t.”

Pidge put a hand to their heart.

“I didn’t do anything !”

“you were going to”

“I was going to do what ?”

“kink shame me” Lance grumbled.

“so you admit you have a kink”

“no !” Lance squealed. Pidge chuckled. “don’t tell anyone” Lance whined.

“yeah, because everyone already knows it”

Lance’s eyes shot wide open. “what ?” he squealed, his voice higher than he should be able to sound like. “since when do you know ?”

“dude, we always knew. When I told you my brother was going out with a tattoo artist, your eyes lit up and you were just trying to contain your excitement so hard, it was cute. And the face you made when you saw that he didn’t have any tattoo on his skin. You spent ten minutes stroking Matt’s tattoo when you saw it for the first time. When I told you Keith was tattooed you were skipping and humming until you saw he was your rival from college. Bro, we never even needed to ask, everyone knows you have a fetish.”

Lance hid his face in his arms. He couldn’t believe he had been that obvious.

“does Keith know ?”

“he knows you like tattoos, that’s for sure. But I don’t think he knows just how much you love them.”

“ugh” Lance winced. “you’re heavy you know”

“yeah I know. Since we’re talking about your kinks, do you have a thing for piercings too ?”

Lance never thought about it.

“I don’t know, Piercings are cool” Lance shrugged.

Pidge nodded.

“Keith has piercings, doesn’t he ?”

“yeah but he doesn’t wear them often.”

“how many does he have ?”

“7 on his ears and a hidden one.”

“what does that mean ?”

“not telling” they winked.

Lance hid his blush against the mattress.

“do you plan on getting another piercing ?” Lance asked to keep his mind from running wild.

“maybe, if I want another one I’ll do it. I like Shiro’s nape piercing, maybe I’ll do one like this too.”

Lance nodded. The silver beads looked good on his muscular neck.

“how does it feel now that you’re the only one without a piercing ?”

Hunk had two helix piercings on his right ear, Matt had 10mm stretched lobe piercings, Lance would be the last one to be pierced. 

“I’m the last one who didn’t have to suffer, I’ll be the last one standing against the oppression of body modification” Lance said with a fake sadness.

Pidge hit his shoulder. “just go see Keith already”

Lance shoved Pidge away from his back and tickled them as revenge. They decided to look at the soapy movie until Hunk was back to watch the new voltron episode.

~~

Pidge yo how’re your fishes ?  
Lance why ? You never care about them  
Pidge Keith asked about them  
Lance they’re fine  
Pidge you didn’t come to the flower shop today  
Lance couldn’t make it  
Pidge even after your shift ?  
Lance especially after my shift  
Pidge you’re way too obvious, talk to him soon

~~

“Hunk” Keith called out.

“what ?” Hunk asked. He looked up at Keith who was suppose to spend the night at their house, Shiro had kicked him out for the night. Hunk was brushing his teeth and Keith was standing in the door frame.

“do you think he really hate me ?”

Hunk sighed. He was quite tired of him, he had been on repeat for the past month.

“it might be the case, I mean he’s been blatantly avoiding you for a while now. He’s made it clear he didn’t want to see you. Moreover, he isn’t going to be pierced because Shiro told him that we weren’t allowed to be pierced anywhere else when he really wants one. He has always wanted to be pierced.”

“is there a reason he doesn’t want to be pierced again ?”

“you noticed ?”

“Hunk, piercing people is my job, of course I’d notice it”

“he had his left lobe pierced back in middle school but the healing process didn’t go well, it got infected and he took it off. Now he’s kinda scared the new one would get infected”

“it won’t happen”

“he will never admit he’s anxious about it, and he doesn’t like pain”

Keith chuckled.

“do you want to see him that bad ?” Hunk asked, he finished brushing his teeth.

Keith grunted but Hunk gave him a knowing look.

“I can’t blame you, he’s pretty” Hunk said dreamily.

“pretty annoying”

“do you know how you look at him ?”

Keith’s eyes widened impossibly, a blush creeping up his neck towards his cheeks. His lips disappeared into a thin line.

“so you know.” Hunk nodded with a smile, he was proud of himself for seeing between the lines. “you were so obvious, I’m surprised he never noticed your crush. He has always been naive, sorry about that”

Keith squirmed under Hunk’s sheepish look. He was genuinely sorry for his best friend’s naiveness. “does anyone else knows ?”

“Pidge figured when you kept asking about Lance for the past month. Shiro obviously already knows, and Matt might know as well.” Hunk said, cupping his chin with his fingers.

“this is the worst” Keith mumbled, kneeling. Hunk patted his shoulder gently.

“this will sound heartless and mean, but I really think you should find someone else.” Hunk dropped on his knees, to sit in front of Keith. He let himself be pet, there was something about Hunk that was so soft, he couldn’t bring himself to throw him away.

“I know Hunk”

“he might really hate you”

“you’re not helping”

“he doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore”

“Hunk, please”

“you started off being pretty mean for no reason after all”

“he was so confident, he was a total jerk”

“you didn’t let him a chance, he’s not a jerk”

“I know”

“he doesn’t even want to talk about you anymore. He thinks you’re annoying, always asking about the fishes.”

“I thought it was okay, I love his fishes”

“it’s obvious you just want to keep your last link with him”

“is it ?”

“yeah, pretty much. He realized it as well”

“is there anything in me that doesn’t anger him ?”

“your tatts”

“what ? Why is he so obsessed with them ? Does he have a fetish or something ?”

“he does”

“what am I supposed to do with that information ?” Keith grunted, glaring at Hunk who shrugged with a sheepish smile.

“walk around naked ? Maybe that’ll attract him”

“you’re not helping me here”

“okay, seriously, just forget about him. I don’t think he will ever love you back.”

“but we were starting to get along !”

“he would do anything to get a good grade, don’t read too much into it.”

Keith hid his face against his knees. “what do I do now ?”

“first, you need to stop trying to talk to him. Just stop asking about him, stop asking about his fishes and ignore him as much as you can.”

“and what if he asks about me ?”

Hunk sighed at this. “I’m pretty sure he won’t. And even if he did, don’t get your hopes up, okay ?”

“why are you so harsh”

“I don’t want to give you any fake hope”

“you don’t need to be that mean, you’re supposed to be softer than Pidge”

“hey !” Pidge called out from behind Keith. They both jerked their head up to stare at them.

“you’re here” Hunk said casually.

“why are you having this conversation without me ?”

“he needed to hear the truth, and we both know you would have sugar-coated it. Oh and I might have slipped about his fetish”

“you did what ? Oh god, Lance will kill you he didn’t want Keith to know !”

“Lance doesn’t want to see Keith anymore so what’s the problem ?”

“still, he didn’t want him to know about it”

“if I show him my tatts, will he come to talk to me ?” Keith asked.

“nope” Pidge and Hunk answered together.

“ugh”

“are we really doing this now ?” Pidge asked Hunk who nodded.

“we can’t exactly stop it, can we ?”

“why did you start now ?”

“it’s been a month : Lance won’t talk with Keith ever again. We need to face the reality and help him get over his crush”

“can you please stop talking as if I wasn’t sad over here ?”

Hunk and Pidge chuckled awkwardly.

“sorry bro, what do you want to do ?”

“I need to think about something else right now. Comedy would be good”

“cheesy ?” Pidge asked.

“of course.” Keith answered.

“romance ?” Hunk suggested.

“anything but love”

“welcome in the aro spectrum buddy ! Life isn’t bad at all over here !” Pidge sang.

“I don’t plan on staying alone forever !”

“that’s why you developed a crush on your enemy !”

“Pidge !” Keith whined.

“sorry, come on let’s get out of here”

And then they got out and head to the sofa.

~~

Shiro’s phone vibrated suddenly. He couldn’t pick it up at the moment, he was in the middle of applying a tattoo : an eagle spreading its wings defensively behind a powerful mermaid. He called for Keith to get it out of his back pocket and read it for him.

“it’s from Lance” Shiro said, focused exclusively on his work.

“it is, he asks when you are coming over” Keith raised an eyebrow, surprised his brother and Lance were this close. He shouldn’t be surprised, they had known each other for a long time.

“tell him I’ll give him a call when I’m finished tonight”

“done. Why are you seeing him ?”

“busamen died” Shiro said, his voice cold.

“what ? When ?” Keith’s voice almost broke. He liked the fish, even if he ever saw him once.

“about a week ago”

“a week ago ?”

“yeah, no one asked about the fish so he just didn’t tell anyone. I’m going over to cheer him up”

“it’s just a fish right ? can’t he just buy another one “the clients asked, huffing in the middle of his sentence because of the sharp sting of the needle on his forearm.

Keith almost snapped at him but Shiro didn’t let him talk. “the boy really likes his fishes, plus he has history with this one.” he said in a calm voice.

“can you really get attached to a fish ?” the client asked, only sincere interest in their voice.

“he had him for 2 years, and he’s really soft hearted. He loves them, but even I don’t really understand why either, fishes are just so different from us” Shiro chuckled.

“yeah I see what you mean. Fish tanks are really pretty though” the clients winced, the sharp needle was hitting a spot with less flesh.

“they are” Shiro answered. “don’t tell Pidge or Hunk about Busamen, he’ll tell them later”

“why ?” Keith asked.

“because he should be the one to tell them”

Keith nodded. He put Shiro’s phone in his back pocket.

~~

Lance was sighing heavily. It had been almost three weeks since the last time Keith asked about him. It had been three weeks since anyone mentioned Keith around him. And it felt good, as if he never met Keith, as if Keith never existed, as if it was all just a bad dream. And Lance was loving it. He was finally free from the cocky mullet boy, with no one to irritate him to the core, to comment everything he did, to look down on him. Yeah, he was loving it. So why in the fuck was Keith doing in front of his house when Lance was waiting for Shiro. His face went from mildly content anticipation to straight up anger when he saw him instead of Shiro when he opened the door.

“what are you doing here ?” he snapped.

Keith flinched, his eyes wandering all over Lance’s face and body frenetically. Lance grunted, he was a few days behind his facial routine and he knew he looked like shit, this was the worst time to see Keith. Especially when Keith didn’t look like he had gone through a zombie apocalypse.

“what. Are. You. Doing. Here.” Lance hissed between gritted teeth.

“I… It’s… I just...”

“don’t I… It’s… I just me. Tell me what you came for.”

“I wanted to check up on you”

“what for ?”

“I heard about Busamen”

Lance gritted his teeth.

“did Shiro also tell you that I didn’t want to see you ?”

“I just wanted to see if you were okay”

“I am not anymore.”

“why ?”

“you’re here. Get out.”

“are you okay ?”

“get. Out. Of. Here.”

Keith didn’t move, frozen.

“what do you not understand in get out of here ? That I don’t want to see ever again ?”

Keith shuddered.

“Keith ?”

They both looked to the side to see Shiro coming up the stairs with Allura behind him.

“what are you doing here ?” Allura asked, her voice remaining as calm as she could muster.

Keith looked down, he couldn’t stand her disappointed look and Shiro’s exasperated one.

“and you ?” Keith asked, his voice trembling.

“we’re here to cheer up Lance. And you ?” Allura asked again.

“I wanted to see how he was doing, I was just worried.” Keith grumbled.

“yeah, I’m perfectly fine as you can see, now leave.”

Keith glanced at him before he walked past Shiro and Allura. Lance lead them inside the house, she introduced herself casually before she went to the fishes and got excited over them.

“she’s a roommate and my coworker, she’s the one who did Keith’s tattoos, I thought you would be happy to meet her.” shiro explained, putting down the bag of groceries he had brought with him.

“Shiro, how can you go out with Matt when she’s hanging in your apartment ? she’s gorgeous”

“yeah I know what you mean. Does it bother you that she’s here ?”

Shiro was asking in a soft and reassuring voice. He was ready to throw her out anytime if Lance wanted him to.

“I don’t mind.” Lance answered.

“are you okay ?” Shiro asked, with a voice even gentler than before.

“I miss him, he was always so ugly and cute sucking on the decor” Lance whispered.

“are the other fishes okay ?”

“yeah, I tested the water and the parameters were good, but I still did a 50 percent water change when I realized he was dead.”

“that’s good. Maybe he was just old.”

“they are supposed to live up to ten years”

“he wasn’t a fry when you had him, he was already an adult. He could have been older than you thought.”

“maybe...”

Shiro took Lance by the arm. He tugged on him to get closer and Lance happily complied, snuggling against Shiro’s muscles. He felt the strong and protective arms hugging him back and he went limp. Shiro held him up without saying anything, just brushing gently his back. Lance closed his eyes, he was secretly jealous of Matt. He felt like nothing could happen to him when he was so close to Shiro, like he was blocking every problems from getting to him. He didn’t want to move at all.

“Shiro ! Do you know any of the fishes’ names ?” Allura asked with a cheerful voice.

“I know some of them, but you’ll have to wait until Lance is finished charging.” Shiro patted Lance’s head.

“take your time guys ! I love the lionfish, it’s a really pretty fish”

“he’s Blue” Lance said, but he didn’t move.

Allura nodded, even though Lance couldn’t see her. She just started waiting quietly and soon Lance completely forgot she was even here. He clutched Shiro’s shirt in his hands. Keith had come out of nowhere to check up on him. He couldn’t believe him. He doesn’t hear from him for three weeks and suddenly, he’s here at his door. What was that fucker thinking ? That he would be welcomed with open arms ? No, this wasn’t Lance’s style. He didn’t want to think about how he was the one who put an end to their whatever-it-was-called relationship. No. He hadn’t buried any friendly emotions he had towards Keith just to get them stirred up by some random kind gesture towards him. Lance pulled away from Shiro, he didn’t want to think about unnecessary things anymore.

“you good ?” Shiro smiled, observing his face.

“yes, thank you” Lance gave him a smile.

“you’re welcome” Shiro answered with a smile as well.

Lance took in a deep breath. He was looking like he had gone through hell and his skin was as dried as a desert but there was a beautiful woman in his apartment at the moment, he needed to court her. He turned around, his flirtatious smile on his face.

“so, you wanna know more about my fishes ? But I need to warn you, you might drown in the blue depths.” he said, sitting next to her on the bed.

She cocked an eyebrow up, Lance noticed her piercing under her eyes, the rose gold beads were put in parallel to her eyes and they stood out nicely on her warm brown skin. She glanced at the tanks, none of them had a blue water.

“which blue depths ?” She asked, getting her eyes back on Lance.

“this ones” Lance said with a smirked and multiple blinks to put his eyes on the sight. She just rolled her eyes.

“I know how to swim, thank you. Can you tell me about the fishes instead ?” Allura stoop up and went up to the tanks. Lance told her about the names of his fishes, what kind they were and where they came from. She chuckled when she learned about the stupid names of the tetras but just like everyone else she was mad at Hunk for choosing this stupid name. She didn’t particularly liked the ancistrus, she preferred the slender and colorful killies darting around.

“you don’t have big round fishes ?” Allura asked, a little disappointed.

“goldfishes ?” Lance suggested.

“no, they are just round fish, with small fins and a small body but they are so skinny if you look at them from the front, and they also have the same kind of colors as the couple on the top of the aquarium !” she said with excitement.

“discus ?” he raised an eyebrow.

She looked at her phone. “yes them ! I love them, I saw some one day in a petshop they were cute and small”

“they were probably pretty young, discus get really big at least ten inches.”

“really ? They must be so pretty when they are this big ! Do you plan on getting some one day ?”

“maybe, they need a big tank so I won’t get them before a long while”

“how big ?”

“at least 95 gallons”

“that much ? How many can you put in there ? A dozen ?”

“just 5”

“what ?” she squealed.

“yeah, they need space to swim, just like goldfishes”

“is that why you only have 3 fishes in this tank ?”

“yeah, I don’t want to overcrowd it. But I might change some things around, since I have one less fish.” Lance said, his sadness peeking through his voice.

Allura smiled. “I’m sure your tanks will look beautiful.”

Lance blushed. “thanks, but they’re not that fancy, I didn’t even scape them. You’ll have to come again when they will be beautiful !”

“with pleasure. you’ll have to come to our house and meet my mouses !” Allura smiled.

Lance’s eyes gleamed. “you have mouses ?”

“yes ! I have four, they are really cute ! You need to meet them !” she was beaming.

“yes I want to !”

“oh, but you’ll have to come when Keith isn’t home” Allura stated with her pointer finger on her chin.

Lance nodded. “thanks”

“no problem, I don’t want troubles in my house ! When can you come ? we’ll throw Keith out” she sing sang.

Lance flinched. “don’t throw him out, I’ll come when he’s not here”

“don’t worry about it !” Allura laughed. “plus if we wait until he leave the house, that day will never come !”

“she’s right” Shiro chuckled.

“then, is it okay if I come this Sunday ?”

“”yes ! Come whenever you’re free, Keith will come back around 7pm so make sure you’re here early enough.”

Lance smiled. He couldn’t wait.

~~

He was looking at his phone. Shiro had texted him their address but there he was anxious he wouldn’t find the right address. He took a turn left and walked for a minute before he saw a tattoo shop from across the street. He sighed because this was Shiro’s and Allura’s shop. Shiro appeared in the door frame next to the shop. He lead him up the stairs, into their house. Allura welcomed him, and to Lance’s surprise, Coran was cheering behind her.

“what are you doing here ?” Lance squealed.

Coran frowned, leaped to Lance before he looked at him through lidded eyes.

“I’ll let you know that I leave here young man” he smirked.

Lance’s eyes brightened. “so that’s why Keith had all those books about altea !”

“yes ! I’m very proud of my student, he has always loved learning about altean culture and society !” Coran announced proudly, squaring his shoulders and brushing his mustache. “but I’m also proud of you, I knew you would work well together !”

“you admit you did it on purpose !” Lance tightened his fists.

“yes ! And I am very happy I did, you did an incredible work together !” Coran smiled.

“he was an ass though”

“well, I can’t say I expected anything else with him”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “really ?”

“yes ! This kid has no idea how to interact with people, he just knows how to emo” Coran shook his head with a dramatic sigh.

“he’s trying to live up to his mullet” Lance grinned.

Coran threw an arm over Lance’s shoulders. He turned to Allura and Shiro.

“can we exchange Keith over this boy here ?”

“no, we can’t.” Shiro answered.

Coran cupped Lance’s face with his free hand. “but look here, this boy is better ! Look at this clean and shiny skin, that beautiful brown color, those deep blue eyes full of questions about the world, this soft fluffy hair, isn’t he beautiful ? Doesn’t he look like our kid Allura ?”

Lance’s eyes widened impossibly. He squirmed out of Coran’s grip.

“well he isn’t wrong” Shiro shrugged.

“I don’t want to think about having a kid with Coran” Allura shivered.

“me neither” Lance said, walking up to Shiro. “why are you saying that, you’re my professor !”

“here, I am nothing but a mere roommate.” Coran stated.

“a weird uncle” Allura added.

“it’s weird to see you like that, you’re so composed during class” Lance said.

“well, I am a competent professor after all”

Lance looked at him unimpressed. “yeah right. So where are those mouses ?”

He followed Allura upstairs, where their bedrooms were. Coran and Shiro were following as well. Lance visited Coran’s room, the walls were covered in books except for one under the window which housed the desk. He was the only one to have a small bed. Allura’s was opposite to Coran’s and was bigger, she had a large bed and the walls were covered in colorful paintings. Lance eyed over the drawings and eyed the art supplies pilling up on her shelves. The soft gray of the walls suited her. Well, anything would suit her. Shiro and Matt’s room was biggest of the three, next to Coran’s room. Next to Allura was the bathroom and toilets. Lance learned that the room was somewhat messy because of Shiro’s habit of piling things up rather than putting them in order. Matt was apparently always annoyed by his antic and he was still trying to get him to change. Well, he did get Shiro to order all the shelves once a month. It was already a huge step apparently. Lance learned Coran was unable to cook, but Allura was even worse than him : as long as it didn’t involve more than three steps they could make a good meal. Once they had tried to cook a quiche and it ended burned to the core because they had both forgotten about the timer. Since then, they were only allowed to peel vegetables. They were mostly in charge of cleaning the dishes and the house while Shiro and Matt were in charge of the food. The tasks were split between everyone, equality between them all. Lance spent a lot of times with the mouses : they were all piebald : the smallest one with brown spots was Chullat, Platt was mostly black, Plachu was the only female and she had only one small brown spot on her belly and the last one was black, brown and white and really chubby : Chuchule. They were pretty friendly, climing on his arms and eating from his hands. Shiro took a photo of him with the mices : Chuchule was sleeping on top of his head, Platt seemed really interested with his right ear, Plachu was looking at Allura on the edge of his left shoulder and Chullat was eying the way down Lance’s chest suspiciously. Shiro sent the picture to Pidge who the answered with a photo of them and Hunk wooing with their hands on their cheeks. Lance let go of the mices after a long moment, it was his first time playing with mouses. And they were really cute. And soft. They left Allura’s room.

“where is Keith’s room ? I didn’t see it” Lance said out of the blue.

Shiro and Allura glanced at each other, Coran turned around on his feet.

“actually you did ! he’s sleeping in the living room !” Coran stated as a matter of fact.

Lance blinked. “does that mean he has no privacy at all ?” Lance asked with disbelief, he couldn’t think of staying 2 days in a room where everyone come and go as they please.

“I’m sure he does when everyone else is sleeping tightly !” Coran said, brushing his mustache.

“where does he work ?”

“in the kitchen or in the living room”

“and he’s okay with that ?”

“it’s not like he has a choice, he wasn’t supposed to live here when we bought the house together.” Allura explained.”he’s living with us until he can find an apartment for himself.”

Lance nodded and dropped the topic. It was kinda scary how no one talked about the mullet before, as if he never existed. Lance was thankful for that but also strangely confused by their behavior. He didn’t really like that no one acknowledge his existence at all, as if he was dead. He was uneasy with that thought, he didn’t want Keith to stop existing, as long as he existed far from him.

~~

Lance was sighing deeply on his afternoon shift at Sephora. He loved beauty products, but he didn’t buy any kind of make up. He had an atrocious skin care routine to keep his skin flawless and hydrated and a lot of skin and hair products but not a single one make up product. Except for an eye liner Shiro had given him – his eyeliner wing was always flawless, Lance was jealous – and a foundation that did not match his skin tone. He couldn’t bring himself to throw it away, he liked to keep it. He knew a lot about make up products, thanks to youtube videos, so he was doing a good job here. Plus, he was the only man working there, he could flirt with all the customers he wanted –even if they thought he was gay most of the time. He wasn’t flirting to get a girl, he just liked to play this exciting name with someone else, see how they would react and how they would respond. He had soon realized that girls were more responsive when they thought he was gay, he wasn’t going to complain about it. Well, sometimes he did. There was nothing to do in the middle of this Tuesday afternoon, his coworker was stacking products and they didn’t need help. His phone went off in his pocket, Shiro was calling him.

“Emil ! I’m going to answer a call, call me if something come up okay ?”

Emil gave him a thumb up and he headed into the storage room.

“hi Shiro, what’s up ?” he asked happily. His mood dropped real quick.

“Lance ! Please I need your help !” Keith said, completely panicking. “Coran just offered me a fish ! What do I do ? I have no idea what to do !”

Lance did his best to remain calm. He had never thought Keith could panic this much. “why the hell should I help you ? Just look it up on the internet.” Lance snapped.

“ah yes, you’re right” Keith’s voice was still shaking.

“you think you can call me like that after two months ? Tch, what were you thinking ?” Lance said, his voice was cold and angry.

“I… I just panicked, Coran came to me with the fish and I didn’t know what to do, you’re the only who would know what to do” Keith sounded defeated. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called”

They didn’t say anything for a few seconds. They didn’t hang up either. Lance wanted to but he couldn’t, there was something about Keith’s voice that held him from hanging up. And he couldn’t bring himself to turn up on an innocent fish. He loved fishes more than he hated Keith.

“tell he didn’t give you a goldfish” Lance sighed out of the blue.

“eh, no, it’s a betta, a red and white male betta” Keith said hastily.

Lance sighed loudly. “thank god. you’ll have to spend money on him to get him a proper tank and a proper set up.”

“yeah”

“are you ready to spend money on him ? Or are you just going to give him to me ?”

“no he’s mine ! I’m not giving him, I don’t care about the money I want the best for him” Keith sounded more resolute than before.

“okay, just don’t say that in a pet store” Lance giggled, he hoped Keith didn’t hear it.

“can you help me set up a tank ? If you don’t that’s okay I’ll find a way to take care of him”

Lance pondered for a second. The normal choice to make was to refuse him, but Lance couldn’t. He blamed it on the fish.

“come at my house around 8 with the fish and his food, we’ll discuses it then.” Lance tried to sound irritated. He really wanted to see the betta, he had never seen one before. He wasn’t really interested in keeping them but he always liked discovering new fishes.

“thank you” Keith sighed deeply, Lance could feel how relieved he was through the phone.

“is it in a bowl ?”

“yeah, way less than 0.25 gallon”

“how long has he been in there ?”

“no idea”

Lance looked at the time on his phone.

“how is he ? Is he laying on the bottom or is he kinda swimming ?”

“he’s not moving but he’s not on the bottom, he’s just staying still near the surface”

“do you have water that has been sitting for a day around ?”

“maybe, I’ll ask Allura and Shiro”

“Lance ! Come back to the shop now !” Emil said, poking their head through the door.

“one minute” Lance answered. “if you have water, put it in a large bowl or even a plastic bag and heat the water a bit to 25 degrees. You put the bowl with the fish in the new water for 20 minutes to get the temperatures to match and then you transfer the fish in the new water. don’t put the dirty water in the clean water okay ? And if you don’t have water, leave the fish alone and don’t stress him out. I need to go now, later” Lance hang up quickly before he went back to the floor.

~~

The bell to his apartment rang. Lance skipped to the door, he was excited to see the fish. He had set up his quarantine tank for the betta after searching on the internet his basic needs. The tank could seem a bit big for a betta since it was a 10 gallon tank but it was used for bigger fishes before, he didn’t have any other tanks anyway. And the betta wouldn’t mind at all, the bigger the better. When he opened the door, he remembered that Keith was the one getting the fish. His smile faded, it was weird seeing him after all this time. He gestured for him to enter the apartment. Keith looked at the bare tank on the desk.

“will this be his tank ?” he asked.

Lance nodded.

“it’s not as pretty as your other tanks” he looked sad.

“that’s because it’s a quarantine tank, plants and substrat would only mess with medication.”

“will he need medication ?” Keith asked. He was fidgeting.

“depends if your fish needs it or not” Lance shrugged. “did you find some dechlorinated water ?”

“no, I left him in the cup”

“put the cup on the water then”

Keith did as he was told. He stared at his new fish. Lance scooted over next to him to take a look at the betta. He had bright red fins and a mostly white body. He wasn’t moving, he had no place to in the cup. Lance couldn’t take a good sight at the fins, he kept them close to his body.

“thank you for letting him stay here for a while” Keith said out of the blue.

“I like fishes.” Lance deadpanned. “he’ll stay here until you get a proper tank back at your home.”

“what do I need ?” Keith turned his head to look him in the eye.

“nothing less than 2,5 gallon, a 5 gallon tank is best. You can find some second hand tank, it’s cheaper. A slow filter, the slower the better. We’ll most likely tone down the current with a sponge anyway. I’ll give you cycled media so you won’t have to go through the whole cycling process for 3 weeks. The last thing you need is a heater set somewhere between 24 and 28 degrees. And cattapa leaves are optional, but they’re really good for a betta.”

Keith nodded.

“what about plants ?”

“real plants are best for a betta, but you’ll need light. Do you have food ?”

Keith took out the container of pallet food. “yes, Coran bought it when he got the fish.”

“Coran bought the fish ?”

“yeah, he just wanted to cheer me up so he bought a fish. He didn’t know anything about fishes, he just trusted the guy who worked at the pet shop.”

“wrong choice. They don’t know anything about fishes most of the time, if they tell you a bowl is enough for a goldfish, run away.”

“really ?”

“you need at least 20 gallon per goldfish, they get really massive”

“wow. What kind of plants can I get for my tank ?”

“bettas don’t like strong lighting and current, I have some gravel left if you want it. Java ferns and moss are common in a betta tank but you can choose what you want. You can put whatever you want. I can give you some of my plants as well”

“really ?”

“yeah, it’s not a big deal, I have lots of plants in my tanks and it will save money. Even a small tank is pricey to put together, but compared to what you spend on other animals it’s not that much. It’s just a lot in one time”

“yeah, I don’t care about the money, I want the best for Red.”

“you gave him a name already ?”

“yeah”

Lance nodded. Red wasn’t a bad name. He might have been inspired by his Blue.

“I’ll keep an eye on Red until the tank is fully functional, you should be able to get everything within a week. Tell me if you have any problems. Search about bettas and how to keep them happy and healthy, and how to care for fishes in general.”

“I’ll do.”

Lance and Keith stayed silent afterwards. They didn’t have anything to talk about after all and Lance didn’t want to sound more friendly than he already was.

“it should be time to take the fish out, do you want to try ?”

Keith nodded. Lance took out the floating cup.

“you’ll take him on your hand, don’t squish him. I want as little water from the cup in the tank okay ? Rinse your hands well before, no soap.”

Keith did as he was told and came back to the cup. He opened it and put his hands into the water. He jerked it back, the fish was squirming around under his hand. He flinched everytime the betta touched his hand. Lance chuckled, Keith was frowning at the fish. He couldn’t stop his hand from flinching away from the squirming animal, it was so quick at escaping his fingers. He finally got the fish on the edge of his hand but it jumped back into the water. Keith swore, Lance giggled. Keith trapped the fish between his hands his face showing a beautiful wince and put it into the tank quickly. Red looked around, moving slowly to the surface of the tank, his gills moving heavily.

“is he okay ?” Keith asked.

“give him some time to settle, he went from a small cup to a huge tank after all. And you stressed him out a lot.”

Keith winced. “it feels weird okay ! I didn’t think he would react like that !”

“how did you think he would react ? Have you ever seen a fish ?”

“well, not like that ! And the scales feels weird on the skin, and it’s weird !”

“you’ll get used to it” Lance smiled.

Keith smiled back. Lance glanced to the side, he could feel the heat creeping on his back. Why was he thinking Keith looked cute ?

“will he be okay in a bare tank ?”

“yes, don’t worry. it’s not like he will stay here for a long time”

“yeah”

Red’s fins were longer than Lance had anticipated, his caudal fin looked like silk flowing in the wind. His anal fin was a bit longer, overlaying with the caudal fin. His pectoral fins were long and just as bright as the rest of his fins. His dorsal fin was shorter than the others, not long enough to overlay with the caudal fin which was not wide enough to spread at more than a 120 degree. Lance sighed deeply, he saw all those beautiful halfmoon bettas on the net, he had wished the red fish was one of them.

“if you’re thinking he’s ugly, I’ll kick you. My baby is perfect.”

Lance chuckled. He couldn’t help it, Keith was way too serious about his fish and he only had for half a day.

“give me your number, I’ll tell you if something is wrong with him.” Lance said. Keith gave him his phone. “he should be settled in in an hour. If you have any question, feel free to ask me”

“thanks, I should go now.”

Keith stood up and headed towards the door. Lance followed him and leaned against the wall as they were standing in front of the door. Keith looked at him with a small smile and his eyes softer than he ever thought possible.

“thank you for Red.” Keith said.

Lance felt a shiver running down his spine. There it was again, that soft and calm atmosphere surrounding Keith and his stupid soft smile.

“I already told you, it’s nothing.” Lance answered, annoyed.

“still, I just forced a fish on you. Don’t worry, after that I won’t contact you anymore. Goodbye Lance” Keith said before he closed the door of the apartment.

Lance slid down against the wall as the footsteps outside faded into silence. His head was a mess.

~~

Lance had no idea what he should be doing. He was staring at the betta tank for the past 30 minutes. He needed to change the betta’s water. Again. He had fin rot: Lance had noticed the dark areas at the edges of his fins and how they looked slightly frayed the day after he got the fish, when he started flaring at the world around him. Lance had decided to try a salt bath during a few days, just to make sure the bacteria would be very dead when he gave it back to Keith. The fish was on his second day of salt bath and he needed to prepare the new water. He measured the salt and put the right amount in the bucket where the water had been sitting during the afternoon with the water conditioner. He cupped the fish out of his tank and he drained the water with his pump. There was only 3 gallons of water in the tank but it still felt like an eternity. He stared at the desperate betta in the cup next to him. Why did he accept this. He couldn’t get it. Why. Why did he want to talk to Keith again when he finally left him alone just like he always wanted. Just like he wanted before they worked together. Lance would preferred he never showed his other side. That or he had shown this part of himself from the start. No no no, he didn’t need to think about what ifs and maybes. He puts the new water in the tank, it was time to wait again for the water to heat up. Lance lied down on his bed. He couldn’t believe he started to miss Keith. Because there was no denial possible, he wanted to see Keith again. He realized it when Keith left three days ago. He just wanted him to stay for a while longer, even just a second. And he was supposed to hate him. When did he stop hating him? Lance rolled on his back. When did he stop? He rolled on his side, facing the wall. When did he stop hating Keith? He rolled on his other side. Did he ever hated him ? no. he hated Keith. He still did. He wanted him to stay because he is the only person who likes fishes he knew. Yes that was it. He stood up to put the fish back in his tank. He stared at the fish for a moment, his phone buzzed in his pocket : random youtube notification. Lance had a brilliant idea, he took his phone out and started taking photos of Red. If he wanted to talk with Keith so bad, he could just find an excuse to do so ! He had a hard time taking a good picture of Red, either the fish was blurry or in an ugly position. When he finally took a good one, he just send it immediately.

Lance sent a picture  
Lance he’s still a little out of it but he’s better

He then noticed that his torso and face was reflected on the glass. But there was nothing he could do expect being embarrassed. He didn’t want Keith to think he wanted to take a selfie.

Keith he is beautiful

Lance brightened up. But after a couple minutes, he realized Keith wouldn’t start a conversation anytime soon.

Lance Red’s on medication  
Keith what ? Why ? he’s not gonna die, is he ?  
Lance no he has a slight fin rot, I’m doing salt bath. It’s a lot of work so you better be thankful  
Keith what’s salt bath ?  
Lance it’s just salted water, I’m changing it everyday  
Keith thanks, I know he’s in good hands

Lance grinned. But now he couldn’t send another message, they weren’t supposed to be friends. And Keith made it clear after all, he was tired of running after Lance. He couldn’t blame him, he got tired of being ignored. Anyone would. But now, Lance had no idea what he wanted to do with Keith.

~~

Two days later, Lance still wanted to talk with Keith. He blamed it on the fish.

Lance sent a picture  
Lance there ! He flared at me ! After all I’ve done for him !  
Keith I’m proud of him  
Lance remember that I keep your betta hostage !  
Keith he’s a good boy  
Lance you’re two of a kind  
Keith we’re both beautiful ?  
Lance you’re both em  
Keith is he still in salted water ?  
Lance no he’s back on a normal setting, he has a floating plant to hide  
Keith okay, I’ll keep an eye on his fin rot when I get him back, tks for the medication

~~

the next day, he didn’t expect to find what he find in the betta tank.

Lance sent a picture  
Lance is this normal ? Why is he making all those bubbles ?  
Keith don’t worry, he’s just doing a bubble nest : he wants to breed  
Lance you’re really two of the same kind  
Keith what’s that supposed to mean ?!

~~

On Saturday, Lance was working when he got a text from Keith. He was all exited when he opened it up but it quickly went down.

Keith I have everything I needed to set the tank up, can I come tomorrow to pick Red up ?

Lance knew he wouldn’t keep the fish forever, a week had already went by. But that also meant he wouldn’t have any excuse to send a message. They would never see each other again after that.

Lance I can help you set it up if you want  
Keith you don’t need to force you to, I can do it alone  
Lance okay, I’ll bring Red tomorrow  
Keith I can keep him up if you want, it’s not a problem  
Lance I want to see the tank. Did you buy plants ?  
Keith yes  
Lance I told you I was going to give you some  
Keith I didn’t want to annoy you  
Lance I can bring you some tomorrow, do you want them ?  
Keith it’s okay, I don’t need any  
Lance you sure ?  
Keith yeah, don’t worry

~~

Lance was nervous when he walked towards Keith’s house. He didn’t know how he should act with him, he didn’t want to look too friendly but he didn’t have the heart to be cold to him. He blamed it on the fish. No, this time it was literally the fish’s fault. Lance couldn’t believe his opinion on Keith changed so drastically since he got Red. No, Lance thought it was before that, when he let him into his house. Lance didn’t find him annoying or defensive then. He found him friendly, he liked his company at that moment, there he admitted it. that’s when he started wanting to spend more time with Keith and become friends. But there was no way he would give in against Keith, nope, Lance was just that stubborn. He wanted to be friends with Keith for a long while, longer than just the moment they started working together but Lance had a pride that had been brushed the wrong way by Keith and he couldn’t easily forgive it. He wanted apologizes he never got. And he always thought Keith would always be within his reach, if one day Lance wanted to talk with him and become friends but then, everyone just stopped talking about Keith at once just because Lance got a little bit too mad. Who wouldn’t ? I mean, Keith was constantly asking about how his fishes were doing through his friends. If he wanted to know, he could have just asked directly ! And after that, as if Keith never existed, no one talked about him. So when he showed up to comfort Lance after Busamen’s death, Lance just got so mad on the spot. He didn’t understand why he snapped like that, he had no reason to Keith was just being friendly. But he didn’t want someone to act friendly at the time, he wanted his family. And since he was living so far away from them, he wanted his second family, not someone he was hating on for half a year. Lance gritted his teeth. If Keith had come with Shiro that time, maybe he wouldn’t have been so angry at him. Maybe. Lance was already in front of their apartment. Matt called out to him from the window above the tattoo shop. Lance panicked, he wasn’t ready. Lance flinched when the door opened and Keith appeared. He only nodded at Lance who pouted, that’s all he had to say ? Lance followed him up the stairs, inside the house. The rest of the family was waiting in the living room, Coran was shifting his weight from one feet to another.

“good afternoon young man ! How is the fish ?” he asked hastily.

“he’s good, he isn’t depressed anymore” Lance smiled at him.

“a fish can get depressed ?” Matt asked.

“apparently” Lance shrugged. “it’s either that or he had a disease and I got him back on his fins !”

He greeted the housemates before he took a look around the room. He spotted the small tank on the chest of drawer, next to the television. It had light brown sand and stones piled up on the middle of the tank where lots of java ferns were attached to. There was two little moss ball on the side and on the other side were the filter and the heater.

Lance smiled. “Red will like it”

He took out a plastic bag from his bag where the fish was in to float it into the tank. Red was lively, rubbing his mouth on the bag to try and get into the tank. Lance put out the food, cycled media and the frog bit he had taken.

“I brought this plant because he liked it, it was in his tank. It’s a floating plant : no harsh lighting, be careful not to let it grow too much and it should be fine.” Lance explained as he gave it to Keith.

“thanks” Keith put it in the tank while Lance installed the biological media in the filter.

“there, all ready for Red. Keep an eye on his fin rot, you don’t want it to get out of hand”

“yeah I saw photos. Sometimes it get so bad you need to trim the fins”

“poor fishes. You should get the cattapa leaves.”

“yeah, I bought some, they should arrive next week.”

“good”

Their were so cold, completely different from the way Lance talked to the others. He was only mimicking Keith’s tone.

Matt came up between them to look at the fish. “oh he’s so tiny !” Matt wooed.

Shiro came up as well, Lance walked back to give them some space.

“he looks bigger than a week ago”

“that’s because he was in a cup”

Coran kneeled in front of the tank.

“he also looks brighter !”

“that’s because I treated his fin rot and gave him clean water”

“he looks like grumpy cat” Shiro said. Lance eyed him suspiciously.

“he does” Allura answered. “he’s really cute”

“yes he is !” Coran smiled widely. “it was a good idea to offer you this fish after all”

“yeah, it was. Thank you”

Lance felt out of place. In this house, it was either his family or Keith’s, there was no in-between apparently. Lance decided to leave them together, it wasn’t his family after all. Lance looked at his phone while they were talking.

“so, are you in the hobby like Lance is now ?” Matt asked, Lance perked up at that.

“what do you mean ?” Keith raised an eyebrow at him.

“do you want lots of other tanks and fishes ?”

“I don’t know, for now I’ll just enjoy my betta”

“you start with one and soon there’s a hundred fishes in your apartment.” Lance smirked.

“as long as you live here, I won’t allow you to have a hundred other bettas.” Shiro said.

“then I’ll just have to move out” Keith grinned at his brother.

An alarm went off.

“it’s time to get him out !” Coran sounded more excited than anyone else in the room.

“you should acclimate him to your water parameters first, since he wasn’t in the bag for a long time it would be better”

Keith nodded. He opened the bag and put a cup of tank water in the bag. The fish looked all shaken for a second before he started trying to get out of the bag again.

“is it something you need to do all the time ? Acclimate the fish I mean” Allura asked.

“it’s recommended to acclimate, but if the fish stayed for a long time in the bag it’s not.”

“why ?”

“the fish produces ammonia, and it’s toxic for them but it’s less toxic when there is a high concentration of CO2. When you open the bag, the concentration of gas drops and the same level of ammonia is more dangerous for the fish so you need to get them into clean water as soon as possible.”

Allura nodded. “how long will it take ?”

“around 15 minutes, something like that”

Matt winced. “that long ? I want to see him now, I didn’t get to look at him when he was in his cup. And he looks so majestic on the pictures, I want to see if he can act like a dork as well”

“it’s a fish” Keith stated.

“all animals can be dorks.” Matt assured back.

“fishes can’t fall”

“I’m sure they can be dorks anyway.”

“they can’t.”

“you’re blinded by the beauty of the long fins, don’t get fooled so easily”

“I’m not. I watched fishes for an hour an I never saw any sign of dorkiness in them.”

“wait, that’s what you were doing when you stared at them ?” Lance squealed.

“no !” Keith snapped, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“you were !” Lance answered. “I thought you liked them !”

“you got it wrong !” Keith snapped again.

Lance grinned smugly. “no need to get all worked up over a bunch of fishes”

“yeah, calm down boy” Matt giggled.

Keith clicked and poured more of his tank water into Red’s bag.

“Lance, my lil’ bro, tell me” Matt looked at him, his palms pressed together and his middle and pointer fingers straight against his chin. “can fishes be dorks ?”

“I have to agree with Keith, and you know what it means to me, but fishes can’t dork as much as a cat.” Lance said with his arms crossed over his chest.

“urgh !” Matt grunted in despair. “can I pet him ?”

“no ? What kinda question is that ?” Lance cocked an eyebrow.

“aren’t they kinda useless then ?” Matt asked with a pout.

“hey !” Keith snapped.

“but they’re pretty to look at !” Lance cut Keith. “that’s why I love them, it’s always nice to watch them. you’ll see when you’ll feed him, he’s a cute fellow”

Matt shrugged. His reaction didn’t surprise Lance, he knew he preferred cats.

“why did you name your betta Red ?” Allura asked.

“he’s red” Keith deadpanned.

“just that ? I thought you copied Lance’s lionfish name but it’s even more disappointing”

“I just really like the color red and the name suits him.”

“it’s a lame name.” she stick her tongue at him.

He frowned at her. “at least, you can pronounce his name”

she faked being hurt.

“can I take a look at the mices ?” Lance asked.

“yes of course” Allura assured him.

Lance went up the stairs into Allura’s room. The mices were playing in their tall cage minus one who was sleeping. Shiro appeared in the door frame.

“is everything alright ?” he asked. Lance nodded.

“you can leave if you want, don’t force yourself”

“I’m not forcing myself”

“really ? don’t you hate Keith ?”

Lance shrugged.

“I never thought a day would come where you would stop hating on Keith”

“I’m confused as well”

Shiro sighed heavily but he was smiling when he sat down beside Lance. “we really thought you would never come to like Keith”

“what should I say ? Sorry ?”

“nah it’s okay, it’s better if you’re going to get along. it’s easier for all of us.”

“it’s too late right ? He doesn’t want to hear about me again anyway”

“nah, just take a step towards him and he will come along just fine. But you are the one who needs to do it, we won’t help and we already told Keith to never bother you again.”

Lance frowned.

“what does that mean ?”

“exactly what it means”

“but what does it imply”

“not telling.” Shiro chuckled. “come back downstairs, Red is in the tank”

**Author's Note:**

> antis don't interact.


End file.
